To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Pedestrian Crossings
Wednesday 21st February 2024

Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Independent - Enfield, Southgate)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to enforce pedestrian priority at pedestrian crossing points without traffic control measures as set out in the update to the Highway Code in January 2022.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Highway Code changes to improve road safety for people walking, cycling, and riding horses aim to initiate a positive shift in road user behaviour, by making road users aware of their responsibility to use roads safely and reduce the danger they may pose to others.

Enforcement of the law is a matter for the police, who will decide on the evidence of each individual case, whether an offence has been committed and the appropriate action to take.


Written Question
Recruitment: Advertising
Thursday 1st February 2024

Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Independent - Enfield, Southgate)

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring employers to publish salary information when advertising job opportunities.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

There is growing evidence to show that when salary information is not transparent, it has an impact on how people, particularly women and those from ethnic minorities, negotiate pay. This can ultimately result in lower starting salaries and smaller pay rises. In light of this, we have considered the merits of making this a requirement.

However, we appreciate that some employers may find it challenging to be fully transparent about pay, and for many organisations, moving immediately to a system of full pay transparency would require a period of adjustment. We therefore do not believe that introducing a legal requirement to disclose this information is the right course of action.

However, in order to encourage and assist employers in voluntarily adopting this, we are considering what further support employers may need. In addition, our pay transparency pilot will provide insights on the impact it can have.


Written Question
Children in Care: Racial Discrimination
Monday 15th January 2024

Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Independent - Enfield, Southgate)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate and Barnardo’s to discuss how local authorities can work with partners to prevent the over-criminalisation of Black children in the care system.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

We recognise that children in care are more likely than their peers in the general population to have contact with the criminal justice system. That is why we published a joint national protocol with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in 2018 on reducing the unnecessary criminalisation of looked after children and care leavers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-protocol-on-reducing-criminalisation-of-looked-after-children. The protocol was produced with the input of local authority representatives, and other partners. Since the publication of the protocol, the proportion of children in care aged 10-17 who are charged with an offence or receive a caution has reduced from 3% in 2019 to 2% in 2023. Latest data for year ending March 2023 also show that 3% of care leavers age 19-21 were in custody. This figure has remained the same for the last 5 years.

We are also taking action on risk factors that can lead to criminal behaviour including through our work to improve school attendance.

Through the care leaver Ministerial Board, we are working closely with MoJ to improve support and outcomes of care-experienced people in the criminal justice system.

The MoJ is currently updating its strategy for people with care experience in the criminal justice system, to ensure that their time in the criminal justice system is used to support them to lead crime-free lives. The strategy will include a focus on race and its role in shaping the experiences and outcomes of those with care experience, and will link to wider departmental efforts to address racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system. The MoJ are aiming to publish this strategy in 2024.


Written Question
Children in Care: Racial Discrimination
Monday 15th January 2024

Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Independent - Enfield, Southgate)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate and Barnardo’s to discuss developing a Black Foster Care Network to improve the experiences of Black children in care.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

I refer the hon. Member for Enfield Southgate to the answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8232: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-01-05/8232.


Written Question
Offenders: Care Leavers
Friday 12th January 2024

Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Independent - Enfield, Southgate)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will update the HM Prison and Probation Service Strategy for Care-Experienced People to include a specific focus on race.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We are updating our strategy for people with care experience in the criminal justice system, to ensure we are using care-experienced people’s time in the criminal justice system to support them to lead crime-free lives.

This will include a focus on race and its role in shaping the experiences and outcomes of those with care experience in the criminal justice system, and will link to wider departmental efforts to address racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system.

We are aiming to publish this strategy later this year.


Written Question
Measles: Children
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Independent - Enfield, Southgate)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce children’s exposure to measles.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is working closely with NHS England, the Department and wider health system partners at the national, regional and local levels to ensure the health system is prepared and can respond to outbreaks. Briefing notes and letters have been sent to the National Health Service and health professional organisations to remind them of existing guidance and ask them to seek assurance of their preparedness to manage measles cases and prevent outbreaks in their settings. National Measles guidance has been updated, and a range of resources have been published including posters and training resources, which are all available at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-measles-guidelines

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-information-and-poster-for-health-professionals

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/measles-guidance-data-and-analysis

In January 2024, a national multi-agency exercise is planned to assess the system-wide preparedness to respond to a large measles outbreak at a regional and national level.

UKHSA, NHS England, the Department and wider health system partners are also working to raise public awareness of the risks and increase measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination coverage, including through national and regional call-recall exercises, communication campaigns and targeted outreach for underserved communities. NHS England has agreed with general practices to focus their annual campaign on local call recall for MMR to ensure that consistent efforts are made to contact those eligible who have not taken up a vaccine offer between November 2023 and March 2024. A national call recall for individuals aged six years old up to and including 25 years old who are not up to date with their MMR vaccine is planned for 2024.


Written Question
Vaccination: Children
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Independent - Enfield, Southgate)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of children’s access to vaccination services.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Government is committed to improving vaccination uptake rates to fully protect the public from vaccine preventable diseases. The Department works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England to improve children’s access to vaccination services through diverse delivery methods, making getting vaccinated easier for all, including those in traditionally under-served groups. NHS England has rolled out additional programmes such as NHS England London’s new drive to increase measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine uptake last summer to improve immunisation coverage for children and catch-up missed vaccinations due to the pandemic.

The Department is working with NHS England and UKHSA to encourage high uptake of all childhood vaccinations, including the polio vaccine, with NHS England London launching the next phase of their polio campaign, delivering a school-based catch-up for children aged between one and 11 years old. This will also provide opportunities to catch up children for other important childhood vaccines, including MMR.


Written Question
Sports: Hearing Impairment
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Independent - Enfield, Southgate)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the allocation of UK Sport funding to (a) deaf athletes and (b) the Deaflympics.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

UK Sport uses funding provided by the Government to support athletes with potential to achieve success in Olympic and Paralympic sports. As the Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport, UK Sport are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.

This is in line with the Government’s approach to other Paralympic sports where competition is not offered in an athlete's particular classification or discipline.

Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. They have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore these issues and suggest potential solutions.

d/Deaf athletes do receive Government funding. Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. Beyond this, they have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore support around elite competitions and suggest potential solutions.


Written Question
Sports: Hearing Impairment
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Independent - Enfield, Southgate)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has carried out an equality impact assessment of the elite sport funding of deaf people.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

UK Sport uses funding provided by the Government to support athletes with potential to achieve success in Olympic and Paralympic sports. As the Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport, UK Sport are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.

This is in line with the Government’s approach to other Paralympic sports where competition is not offered in an athlete's particular classification or discipline.

Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. They have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore these issues and suggest potential solutions.

d/Deaf athletes do receive Government funding. Sport England has committed £1.2 million between 2022 and 2027 to UK Deaf Sport to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level and build wider participation. Beyond this, they have also agreed to explore a series of small-scale talent pilots for d/Deaf athletes. These pilots will see Sport England, National Governing Bodies, and UK Deaf Sport working together to explore support around elite competitions and suggest potential solutions.


Written Question
Probate: Waiting Lists
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Independent - Enfield, Southgate)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to help reduce waiting times for grant of probate.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The probate service received record levels of applications during 2022 and this has continued to grow with higher levels of receipts during January to June 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

HMCTS has significantly increased staffing levels in Probate over the past year to help process applications faster. The training and upskilling of those new and existing staff have led to applications taking longer in the short term.

HMCTS have streamlined internal processes to cut down on administrative delay and reduce processing times. We are continuing to invest in improving digital systems and online filing capabilities so users can track progress more easily.

Average waiting times for probate grants are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly and currently cover the period up to June 2023.