Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public appointments her Department made between 1 January 2020 and 29 April 2026; and how many of those appointees were a) Black men and b) Black women, broken down by ethnic group.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments publish annual data reports detailing public appointments made by government departments. These reports include data on various diversity metrics, including ethnic background.
To protect the identity of individuals within smaller ethnicity groups, the public appointment data is broken down by white and ethnic minority categories only. The reports are publicly available on GOV.UK.
https://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/publications/annual-reports/
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-public-appointments-data-report
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds data on the gender and ethnicity of a) applicants, b) shortlisted candidates and c) successful candidates for public appointments; and if she will publish the number of i) Black men and ii) Black women in each category for appointments made between 1 January 2020 and 29 April 2026.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments publish annual data reports detailing public appointments made by government departments. These reports include data on various diversity metrics, including ethnic background.
To protect the identity of individuals within smaller ethnicity groups, the public appointment data is broken down by white and ethnic minority categories only. The reports are publicly available on GOV.UK.
https://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/publications/annual-reports/
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-public-appointments-data-report
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many appointments to board-level roles in public bodies sponsored by her Department were made between 1 January 2020 and 29 April 2026; and how many of those appointees were Black a) men and b) women.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments publish annual data reports detailing public appointments made by government departments. These reports include data on various diversity metrics, including ethnic background.
To protect the identity of individuals within smaller ethnicity groups, the public appointment data is broken down by white and ethnic minority categories only. The reports are publicly available on GOV.UK.
https://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/publications/annual-reports/
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-public-appointments-data-report
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many non-executive appointments were made to public bodies sponsored by her Department between 1 January 2020 and 29 April 2026; and how many of those appointees were a) Black men and b) Black women.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments publish annual data reports detailing public appointments made by government departments. These reports include data on various diversity metrics, including ethnic background.
To protect the identity of individuals within smaller ethnicity groups, the public appointment data is broken down by white and ethnic minority categories only. The reports are publicly available on GOV.UK.
https://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/publications/annual-reports/
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-public-appointments-data-report
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public appointments her Department made in the periods a) 1 January 2020 to 3 July 2024 and b) 4 July 2024 to 29 April 2026; and how many appointees in each period were i) Black men and ii) Black women.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments publish annual data reports detailing public appointments made by government departments. These reports include data on various diversity metrics, including ethnic background.
To protect the identity of individuals within smaller ethnicity groups, the public appointment data is broken down by white and ethnic minority categories only. The reports are publicly available on GOV.UK.
https://publicappointmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/publications/annual-reports/
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-public-appointments-data-report
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the use of terrorist connection provisions under section 69 of the Sentencing Act 2020 in cases where no terrorism offence has been (a) charged and (b) proven before a jury on due process and public confidence in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 18 June 2026 to Questions 9355, 9356 and 9357.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many people have been appointed to the board of the Independent Football Regulator; and how many of those appointees are a) Black men and b) Black women.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Since the Independent Football Regulator was established in 2025, the Secretary of State has appointed seven non-executive members to its Board, and recused herself from the appointment of the Chair. Details of the Board's membership are published on the Independent Football Regulator's website. Information relating to the protected characteristics of individual appointees is personal data and is not disclosed.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds information on the gender and ethnicity of applicants and shortlisted candidates for appointments to the board of the Independent Football Regulator.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport monitors applicant diversity data through the Public Appointments Digital Service. This information is provided in confidence and is collected and processed in accordance with the Department's privacy notice. As it is confidential personal data, the Department is unable to release information on the gender or ethnicity of applicants or shortlisted candidates.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Independent Football Regulator can credibly enforce equality and diversity standards in professional football, in the context of the absence of Black representation on its board.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
We want a national game that reflects the diversity of our communities and ensures clubs truly represent the supporters they serve. However, we recognise there is under-representation of our diverse communities in senior leadership roles across the game.
The Independent Football Regulator’s board members bring skills and experience across football, the media, regulation, law, finance and other industries. We are confident that this balance of regulatory oversight and industry insight allows the IFR to meet its statutory objectives.
The IFR is setting statutory governance requirements on clubs, where they must report on what action they are taking with regard to equality, diversity and inclusion. These are more stringent than those previously set by football bodies.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure equality of opportunity for black school students.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are or where they are from. Our work to deliver the Opportunity Mission aims to improve opportunities for all children and young people across the country. High and rising standards in every school are at the heart of this mission and the key to strengthening outcomes and building a better future for all children no matter their background.
That means an excellent teacher for every child, a high quality curriculum, strong accountability with faster school improvement and an inclusive system which removes the barriers to learning.
We are tackling inequalities in the system head-on through our plan for change by rolling out free breakfast clubs in every state-funded primary school, improving mental health support and delivering a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work, and reflects the diversities of our society.