Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment their Department has made of trends in the level of discrimination faced by (a) Sikhs and (b) Jews as ethnic groups in the provision of their Department's services.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Like all public bodies, the Department is subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, in the exercise of its public functions. In line with this, the Home Office is required to assesses potential differential impacts on people with protected characteristics – including Sikhs and Jews– when developing or changing policies and services.
Where relevant evidence indicates potential differential impacts on people with a protected characteristic compared to others without that characteristic, the Department must take this into account as part of its decision-making.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her department records data on (a) Sikhs and (b) Jews as ethnic or religious data.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The current harmonised standard is based on the 2011 Census questions used across the UK; those questions were updated for the 2021 and 2022 Censuses. The current standard does not include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories for a person’s ethnic group.
The ONS is reviewing the harmonised standard to ensure this remains appropriate and meets the needs of both data users and respondents. This will include a public consultation, which concluded on 4th February.
We await the outcome of this review.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase standards in and ensure effective regulation of the cosmetic surgery sector.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 7 August 2025, the Government announced its plans to introduce measures to improve the safety of the cosmetics sector. This included prioritising the introduction of legal restrictions which will ensure that the highest risk cosmetic procedures are brought into Care Quality Commission regulation and can only be performed by specified regulated healthcare professionals.
In addition, the Government also committed to legislating to introduce a licensing scheme in England for lower risk procedures through powers granted through the Health and Care Act 2022. Under this scheme, which will be operated by local authorities, practitioners will be required to obtain a licence to perform specified cosmetic procedures, and the premises from which they operate will also need to be licensed. To protect children and young people, the Government is also committed to mandating age restrictions for cosmetic procedures.
The proposals will be taken forward through secondary legislation and therefore subject to the parliamentary process before the legal restrictions, or licensing regulations, can be introduced. We are now working with stakeholders to develop detailed plans and intend to consult on proposals for restrictions around the performance of the highest risk procedures in the spring.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that genocide is not committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 9 June 2025 to Question 55524.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her department has made of the potential impact of implementing retrospective a increase in the 5 year ILR route to 10 years on the wellbeing of children and families currently in the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing transitional arrangements for people on the 5 year ILR route.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the cumulative impact of the extension and retrospective application of settlement requirements, including impacts on (a) workforce retention, (b) industrial productivity and (c) overall economic security.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed Earned Settlement framework on the (a) family stability, (b) day-to-day security and (c) ability to access credit of Skilled Worker visa holders.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the retrospective increase in ILR on skill levels in key industries such as health and social care.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether data recorded by the department classifies (a) Sikhs and (b) Jews as religious or ethnic groups.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As is usual practice for public bodies, the data recorded by this department is in line with the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) harmonised standard and therefore classifies Sikhs and Jews as religious groups.
The ONS current harmonised standard does not include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories for a person’s ethnic group. The ONS, which produces official statistics independently, launched a consultation to gather views on whether additional response options should be included in a future version of the ethnicity standard. This consultation has now closed, and the responses will be considered carefully.