Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish (a) minutes of each quarterly meeting of and (b) all annual reports prepared by the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group since 2019.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
This Government is committed to tackling the scourge discrimination in all forms, including anti-Muslim discrimination head-on through a coordinated cross-departmental effort. From ensuring the safety of worshippers to community engagement and supporting the victims, swift action has been taken to address anti-Muslim discrimination and institute safeguards. For example, Tell MAMA has been provided with nearly £5 million between 2016 and 2023 to monitor and combat anti-Muslim hatred.
We are taking a broad approach to religious discrimination which will develop on the work of the previous Working Groups; seeking the views and perspectives of British and international experts in this field to explore how religious discrimination is experienced by British communities, and how it affects different faiths and individuals. This engagement will explore the breadth and depth of religious hatred and will consider the question of terminology and definitions for hatred across and within religious communities, including anti-Muslim discrimination. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what policy recommendations his Department received from the Anti-Muslim Hatred working group since 2019; and whether he is taking steps to implement them.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
This Government is committed to tackling the scourge discrimination in all forms, including anti-Muslim discrimination head-on through a coordinated cross-departmental effort. From ensuring the safety of worshippers to community engagement and supporting the victims, swift action has been taken to address anti-Muslim discrimination and institute safeguards. For example, Tell MAMA has been provided with nearly £5 million between 2016 and 2023 to monitor and combat anti-Muslim hatred.
We are taking a broad approach to religious discrimination which will develop on the work of the previous Working Groups; seeking the views and perspectives of British and international experts in this field to explore how religious discrimination is experienced by British communities, and how it affects different faiths and individuals. This engagement will explore the breadth and depth of religious hatred and will consider the question of terminology and definitions for hatred across and within religious communities, including anti-Muslim discrimination. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will hold discussions with the Minister for Women and Equalities on the potential merits of appointing an independent adviser on tackling Islamophobia.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We continue to work closely with community groups, charities and schools to inform our position on tackling racially and religiously motivated discrimination as a whole – including anti-Muslim discrimination.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to appoint an independent adviser on tackling Islamophobia.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
We continue to work closely with community groups, charities and schools to inform our position on tackling racially and religiously motivated discrimination as a whole – including anti-Muslim discrimination.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he will submit the Government’s combined twenty-fourth to twenty-sixth periodic report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 77576, answered on the 7 November 2022.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Government’s UK’s combined twenty-fourth to twenty-sixth periodic report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has been drafted; and what the timetable is for its submission.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is preparing its report, and it will be submitted in due course.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he will submit the Government’s combined twenty-fourth to twenty-sixth periodic report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is preparing its report, and it will be submitted in due course.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on what date the Government last submitted a report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The UK’s combined twenty-first to twenty-third periodic State Report on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (ICERD) was submitted in 2016. The Government's interim response to recommendations was submitted in 2017.
The UK’s combined twenty-fourth to twenty-sixth periodic report to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination will be submitted shortly. The ICERD State Report is an invaluable opportunity for us to assess our work to combat racial disparities and discrimination since our last report in 2016
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether a calculation of housing affordability (a) in general and (b) in the private rented sector for (a) key workers, (b) people receiving the National Minimum Wage and (c) people receiving the National Living Wage is included in all of his Department’s policy planning for recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department commissioned the Household Resilience Study – a follow-up to the English Housing Survey, conducted in 3 waves between June 2020 and May 2021. The research collected includes affordability data from owner-occupiers, mortgagors, and both privately and socially renting tenants.
The study explored numerous measures of affordability, such as proportion of income spent on rent or mortgage, and ease in keeping up with heating costs or other household bills. The data received through the Household Resilience Study includes information on keyworker status and can be broken down by income levels.
Findings from the Household Resilience Study, alongside regular engagement with stakeholders, are used to inform policy decisions across the department, including relevant areas of post-pandemic recovery planning. Monitoring of renters’ financial resilience through the study has informed the additional £65 million of funding, announced in October, to support renters with arrears recover from the impact of the pandemic.
The latest findings from the Household Resilience Study Wave 3 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-resilience-study-wave-3.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether a calculation of cost of living affordability for (a) key workers, (b) people receiving the National Minimum Wage and (c) people receiving the National Living Wage is included in all of his Department’s policy planning for recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department commissioned the Household Resilience Study – a follow-up to the English Housing Survey, conducted in 3 waves between June 2020 and May 2021. The research collected includes affordability data from owner-occupiers, mortgagors, and both privately and socially renting tenants.
The study explored numerous measures of affordability, such as proportion of income spent on rent or mortgage, and ease in keeping up with heating costs or other household bills. The data received through the Household Resilience Study includes information on keyworker status and can be broken down by income levels.
Findings from the Household Resilience Study, alongside regular engagement with stakeholders, are used to inform policy decisions across the department, including relevant areas of post-pandemic recovery planning. Monitoring of renters’ financial resilience through the study has informed the additional £65 million of funding, announced in October, to support renters with arrears recover from the impact of the pandemic.
The latest findings from the Household Resilience Study Wave 3 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-resilience-study-wave-3.