Jas Athwal

This Government is committed to providing young people more things to do outside school. Working with local authorities, charities and others, we aim to halve the gap in participation between disadvantaged young people and their peers.

We are deploying £132.5 million from dormant assets through Every Child Can to expand enriching activities.

We are investing £22.5 million into our Enrichment Expansion Programme to join up activities delivered both in and out of school.

This Government's approach is to resolve the issue at the source by tackling the reasons women and girls are pushed into period poverty to start with. We are protecting women’s living standards, alongside the public services they rely on, so that no one has to go without life's essentials.

We are also continuing to make free period products available through several different avenues, including in schools and hospitals, to ensure that they are accessible to those most in need.

This government is clear that someone’s race or ethnicity should never be a barrier to success. We are taking a number of steps across government to address race inequalities through our mission-based programme of reform and our Plan for Change.

As set out in the King’s Speech last July, we are committed to introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers. We have been discussing our proposals with trades unions, employers and their representative bodies and others and

have published today a consultation on our proposals.

These measures will be part of the draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.

This Government is committed to transforming the lives of working women across the country, regardless of geographical location; this includes going further and faster to close the gender pay gap.

Tackling the gender pay gap will put more money in women’s pockets and help deliver on our Plan for Change, increasing household income.

Amongst a range of measures in the Employment Rights Bill which will support the lives of all working people, we are taking the first steps towards requiring employers to publish action plans alongside their gender pay gap figures. These action plans will detail the effective steps employers are taking to improve gender equality in their workplace, and narrow their gaps.

Statistics on religion or belief for the Attorney General’s Office, as at 31 March 2024, are published on the Civil Service Statistics 2024 (Table A3). The Cabinet Office publish the information annually.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Gentleman's Parliamentary Question's of 3rd June is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Gentleman's Parliamentary Question's of 3rd June is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Gentleman's Parliamentary Question of 3rd June is attached.

Departments should be recording Sikh or Sikhism, as a religion or belief and not as an ethnicity.

Departments are advised to refer to Civil Service Statistics 2024 Table A3 where statistics on religion or belief by department as at 31 March 2024 are published: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2024. This includes statistics on those recorded as ‘Sikh’.

This government is taking tough action to reduce public sector fraud.

In January, we introduced the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill, giving us more tools to combat fraud, allowing government to investigate fraud, recover public money and sending fraudsters a clear message: you won’t get away with stealing public money.

The Bill was introduced on 22nd January, and is currently being examined at the Committee Stage.

Utilising emerging technology to counter fraud is vital. That’s why the Public Sector Fraud Authority uses advanced analytics and is developing artificial intelligence tools to help counter fraud experts better understand, prevent and detect fraud.

The Government’s Parental Leave and Pay Review is considering all current parental leave and pay entitlements, as well as the needs of working families who do not qualify for existing leave and pay entitlements, such as kinship carers. We are engaging with a broad range of stakeholders and considering a wide range of evidence as part of the Review. The Review will conclude in early 2027 with findings which will outline next steps for any potential reforms.

The Government’s Parental Leave and Pay Review is considering all current parental leave and pay entitlements, as well as the needs of working families who do not qualify for existing leave and pay entitlements, such as kinship carers. We are engaging with a broad range of stakeholders and considering a wide range of evidence as part of the Review. The Review will conclude in early 2027 with findings which will outline next steps for any potential reforms.

As of 31^st May 2025, Department for Business and Trade (DBT) employs 63 civil servants who have self-declared as Sikhs. In DBT, Sikhs are recorded as a Religious Group, and not an Ethnic Group.

Revitalising our high streets is a priority for this government. We are delivering across government to create better conditions for high street businesses to thrive.

We have heard businesses’ concerns about the impact of anti-social behaviour in town centres, including in Ilford South. Last month, we introduced the Crime and Policing Bill, which will scrap the effective immunity for low-value shoplifting and do more to protect retail workers from assault. We are also introducing High Street Rental Auction powers for local authorities and over 100 Banking Hubs have now opened - providing essential banking services for businesses and high street users.

Last year the Business Secretary announced a new Business Growth Service which will make it easier and quicker for businesses across the UK to get the help, support and advice they need to grow and thrive. Our Small Business Strategy, to be published later this year, will set out this Government’s plan for further supporting small businesses across key areas, including on the high street.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero currently has 34 employees who have declared their religion as Sikh.

In the HR system religions such as Sikh, are recorded under ‘religion belief’ and not ethnicity.

The Government’s Clean Power 2030 action plan details the Government's strategy to protect people from increased energy bills caused by volatile global gas markets and accelerate our pathway towards greater energy independence through the deployment of clean energy.

Importing cheaper electricity during peak times reduces the need to turn on carbon-intensive domestic generation and enhances security of supply by providing access to a more diverse generation pool that complements our domestic energy mix.

The Government is committed to radically scaling up deployment of technologies such as onshore wind, as demonstrated by our lifting of the planning ban earlier this year.

A clean power system will protect consumers from global gas prices and fluctuations which, as a result of the failure of the party opposite, drove increases of over £1,300 in the electricity price cap for a typical household during the winter of 2022 / 2023.

The Government is increasing investment in alternative methods through delivery of the Replacing Animals in Science strategy. The strategy was supported by £75 million of funding to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, with multi‑year funding secured through the Spending Review to provide stability for key programmes. UK Research and Innovation has already launched a £20 million funding call for a preclinical translational models hub, and Innovate UK has launched a £2 million Contracts for Innovation competition to support the development of alternative approaches. Further investment will be taken forward through delivery of the strategy and associated programmes.

On 3 December 2025, the Secretary of State confirmed in Parliament that the government is exploring how emerging services, such as AI chatbots, interact with the Online Safety Act and what further measures may be required.

The Department has regular discussions with Ofcom about online safety matters. Ministerial meetings are published through quarterly reports on GOV.UK.

The Online Safety Act 2023 places robust duties on user-to-user and search services to tackle abuse and discrimination where it is illegal or harmful to children. These duties apply regardless of whether content is created by AI or not. Services must implement effective systems to prevent, identify, and swiftly remove illegal material. Additionally, in-scope service providers have a responsibility to protect children from ‘priority’ content that is harmful to children, which includes violent content or content that is hateful or abusive based on certain characteristics. Services must also put in place adequate mechanisms for users to report bullying and online harassment.

The government is concerned about the proliferation of AI-enabled products and services that facilitate the creation of deepfake non-consensual intimate images.

Government legislated to ban the non-consensual creation of sexually explicit deepfake images in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, ensuring that offenders face the appropriate punishments for this atrocious harm. The government is aware of the concerns over the tools themselves and is looking into this closely.

The Online Safety Act protects users from harmful and illegal pornographic content. Extreme pornography is a priority offence, meaning that services must proactively mitigate and remove such content.

In addition, the Secretary of State and Victims Minister are introducing a new offence via the Crime and Policing Bill that will crack down on violent pornography, criminalising the possession and publication of images depicting strangulation and suffocation. This will also be designated as a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, meaning platforms will be required to take proactive steps to prevent users from seeing illegal strangulation and suffocation content.

Since 25 July 2025, services that host, publish or allow the sharing of pornography must also implement highly-effective age assurance to prevent children encountering pornographic content.

These measures are part of the government's Plan for Change to halve violence against women and girls, sending a strong message that dangerous and sexist behaviour will not be tolerated.

The Government believes in the power of grassroots sport. Everyone should have access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

We provide the majority of support through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding to support grassroots participation.

Sport England invests in over 90 place partnerships to promote sport and physical activity opportunities in the communities that need it most.

The number of DCMS Civil Servants who are recorded as Sikh is below 5.

In line with Civil Service Statistics guidance, DCMS records Sikh under the classification of Religion.

This Government recognises that grassroots sports facilities are important to communities up and down the country. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to high quality facilities and opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity. Sport England’s site Buddle provides free learning and support resources to inspire and strengthen clubs and community organisations offering sport and physical activity.

The Government has committed to continued funding for grassroots facilities. £123 million is being invested UK-wide via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme throughout 2024/25, including support for 20 projects in London.

The Government is dedicated to supporting every aspect of women’s sport and ensuring all women and girls, no matter their background, have access to high quality sport. We want to break down the barriers that exist and prevent women and girls from being active including but not limited to kit, facilities, time and cost. This Girl Can, which recently celebrated its ten year anniversary, is an inspiring campaign that has promoted women’s sport, challenged prejudice and made clear that sport is for everyone.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Separately, as a government, we are investing £123 million in inclusive grassroots sport facilities that will support more women and girls to take part in the sports that they love.

In the last financial year, 2023-24, Sport England awarded over £75,000 to Ilford South constituency.

When a borrower moves overseas to live or work, the obligation to repay a student loan within the terms and conditions they signed up to still remains. Where a borrower who has moved overseas chooses either not to engage with the Student Loans Company (SLC) or make repayments where their income is above the relevant threshold for that country, arrears will build up on the student loan account. The borrower will also be in breach of the terms and conditions of their student loan, with the arrears flagged to the SLC debt recovery team.

The SLC continue to target non-compliant overseas borrowers using the application of fraud detection and investigatory techniques. Where this fails, SLC work with a debt collection agency to target borrowers with arrears balances. Further action, including legal action, can also be taken to secure recovery.

Each country has the opportunity to develop its own system of student loans, balancing the costs of that system in the way that best suit their priorities.

Overall, we consider that our student finance system should protect low and middle-earners, and balances the interests of graduates against those of taxpayers who help fund the system, including many lower earners who have never had the chance to attend university.

Plan 2 was designed and implemented by the previous government. Interest is applied at Retail Price Index (RPI) for borrowers whose earnings are below the repayment threshold, including those on statutory maternity leave. This means that the value of their outstanding loan will not increase in real terms.

Under this government, borrowers receiving Plan 5 student loans, accrue interest at RPI only, currently 4.1%, so graduates, including high-earners, will not repay more than they borrowed in real terms. Under all repayment plans, borrowers whose earnings fall below the repayment threshold are not required to make repayments.

Graduates only begin repaying once their earnings exceed the repayment threshold, paying 9% of income above that level. If earnings fall, such as when on statutory maternity leave, so do a borrowers repayments. Therefore, whilst interest accrues on loan balances until the loan has been repaid in full or cancelled, interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by borrowers.

For all borrowers, any outstanding loan, including interest accrued, will be cancelled after the loan term ends, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants. There are no commercial loans that offer this level of protection to borrowers.

Plan 2 was designed and implemented by the previous government. Interest is applied at Retail Price Index (RPI) for borrowers whose earnings are below the repayment threshold, including those on statutory maternity leave. This means that the value of their outstanding loan will not increase in real terms.

Under this government, borrowers receiving Plan 5 student loans, accrue interest at RPI only, currently 4.1%, so graduates, including high-earners, will not repay more than they borrowed in real terms. Under all repayment plans, borrowers whose earnings fall below the repayment threshold are not required to make repayments.

Graduates only begin repaying once their earnings exceed the repayment threshold, paying 9% of income above that level. If earnings fall, such as when on statutory maternity leave, so do a borrowers repayments. Therefore, whilst interest accrues on loan balances until the loan has been repaid in full or cancelled, interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by borrowers.

For all borrowers, any outstanding loan, including interest accrued, will be cancelled after the loan term ends, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants. There are no commercial loans that offer this level of protection to borrowers.

The forecasted repayment threshold for Plan 2 can be found within the data published in the Student Loan Forecasts for England publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-for-england/2025-26#content.

Under current policy, the Plan 2 repayment threshold is forecasted to be £29,385 in the 2029/30 financial year. This includes the impact of the Plan 2 threshold freeze from the 2027/28 financial year for three years.

The Plan 2 repayment threshold in the 2016/17 financial year was £21,000, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/previous-annual-repayment-thresholds. If the repayment threshold had been uprated in line with economy-wide average earnings from 2016, the Plan 2 repayment threshold would be £33,735 in the 2029/30 financial year. The forecasted average earnings used to uprate the threshold are from the 2026 Spring Statement Economic and Fiscal Outlook published by Office of Budget and Responsibility.

There would be a £4,350 difference if the Plan 2 repayment threshold had been uprated in line with average earnings from 2016. This difference reflects the difference in uprating mechanism, periods of threshold freezes and the one-off increase to the threshold in 2018.