Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the Race Equality Engagement Group has published any (a) reports and (b) other documents since March 2025.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) held its first meeting in June 2025.
On 25 September 2025 the REEG held its first thematic roundtable covering tackling the barriers to accessing finance and investment for ethnic minority entrepreneurs, and the Police Race Action Plan.
On 9 December 2025 the REEG held its second thematic roundtable and community engagement session, focusing on racial inequalities in maternal and neonatal health and cardiovascular disease.
The Group has met with stakeholders with lived experience, and from key government departments, civil society, community groups and institutions.
In line with the REEG’s Terms of Reference, these meetings are supporting efforts to strengthen the Government’s links with ethnic minority communities and enable constructive dialogue on the Government’s plans to tackle race inequalities.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when she plans to publish the (a) evidence received from the consultation on how to implement mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers, and (b) draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As set out in our manifesto and in the King’s Speech in July 2024, the government is committed to introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers and making the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people.
Good progress has been made in developing the policy and legislative approach to ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting following the public consultation last year.
We will publish the government response to the ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting consultation, as well as sharing next steps on the Bill in due course.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will list engagements that the Race Equality Engagement Group has had with (a) stakeholders and (b) community organisations since March 2025; and the output from these engagements.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Race Equality Engagement Group (REEG) held its first meeting in June 2025.
On 25 September 2025 the REEG held its first thematic roundtable covering tackling the barriers to accessing finance and investment for ethnic minority entrepreneurs, and the Police Race Action Plan.
On 9 December 2025 the REEG held its second thematic roundtable and community engagement session, focusing on racial inequalities in maternal and neonatal health and cardiovascular disease.
The Group has met with stakeholders with lived experience, and from key government departments, civil society, community groups and institutions.
In line with the REEG’s Terms of Reference, these meetings are supporting efforts to strengthen the Government’s links with ethnic minority communities and enable constructive dialogue on the Government’s plans to tackle race inequalities.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what criteria his Department intends to use to evaluate progress towards the Child Poverty Strategy’s headline metrics.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want to see an enduring reduction in child poverty over this parliament as part of long-term, 10-year strategy for lasting change.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out how we will track progress and evaluate success as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and continued learning. It can be found here: Child Poverty Strategy: Monitoring and Evaluation Framework - GOV.UK.
We will use two complementary headline metrics, relative poverty (after housing costs) and deep material poverty, as well as comprehensive programme of analysis focussing on the drivers of child poverty and the impact of specific interventions.
Relative low income poverty is an internationally recognised income measure of poverty which reflects changing living standards over time. Deep material poverty is a new measure based on material deprivation, which reflects our commitment to addressing deeper child poverty. It is measured based on what families report they can afford.
We will publish a baseline report next summer which will set out the latest statistics and evidence, with annual reporting thereafter to monitor and evaluate progress.
We will continue to have a dedicated team in government that works with departments across the Government, the wider public, private sectors and civil society, to keep focus on tackling this stain of child poverty, with oversight from Ministers across Government.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what mechanisms are in place to ensure ministerial accountability to Parliament for progress on child poverty reduction.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want to see an enduring reduction in child poverty over this parliament as part of long-term, 10-year strategy for lasting change.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out how we will track progress and evaluate success as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability and continued learning. It can be found here: Child Poverty Strategy: Monitoring and Evaluation Framework - GOV.UK.
We will use two complementary headline metrics, relative poverty (after housing costs) and deep material poverty, as well as comprehensive programme of analysis focussing on the drivers of child poverty and the impact of specific interventions.
Relative low income poverty is an internationally recognised income measure of poverty which reflects changing living standards over time. Deep material poverty is a new measure based on material deprivation, which reflects our commitment to addressing deeper child poverty. It is measured based on what families report they can afford.
We will publish a baseline report next summer which will set out the latest statistics and evidence, with annual reporting thereafter to monitor and evaluate progress.
We will continue to have a dedicated team in government that works with departments across the Government, the wider public, private sectors and civil society, to keep focus on tackling this stain of child poverty, with oversight from Ministers across Government.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of legally-binding child poverty reduction targets on cross-departmental coordination and prioritisation of resources.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Child Poverty Strategy fulfils our commitment to reducing poverty this Parliament and sets out our ambition to fundamentally fix the structural drivers of child poverty as part of a long-term, 10-year strategy for lasting change. From the beginning of our time in government we have acted on child poverty including through increasing the minimum wage, the Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and the removal of the two child limit from April 2026.
In addition to the existing statutory duty on Government to publish poverty statistics annually, we will be monitoring progress using two complementary headline metrics. These will measure overall child poverty using our leading measure of relative low income and our new measure of deep material poverty that looks at families’ ability to afford essentials as well as their income and housing costs.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out our plans to track progress against these metrics as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and continued learning. There will continue to be a dedicated team in government that, with Ministerial oversight, will work across government, the public and private sectors and civil society as we develop milestones and plans for delivering, monitoring and evaluating our strategy.
We will publish a baseline report next summer which will set out the latest statistics and evidence, with annual reporting thereafter to monitor and evaluate progress.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to set child poverty and deep poverty reduction targets at the start of each Parliament.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Child Poverty Strategy fulfils our commitment to reducing poverty this Parliament and sets out our ambition to fundamentally fix the structural drivers of child poverty as part of a long-term, 10-year strategy for lasting change. From the beginning of our time in government we have acted on child poverty including through increasing the minimum wage, the Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and the removal of the two child limit from April 2026.
In addition to the existing statutory duty on Government to publish poverty statistics annually, we will be monitoring progress using two complementary headline metrics. These will measure overall child poverty using our leading measure of relative low income and our new measure of deep material poverty that looks at families’ ability to afford essentials as well as their income and housing costs.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out our plans to track progress against these metrics as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and continued learning. There will continue to be a dedicated team in government that, with Ministerial oversight, will work across government, the public and private sectors and civil society as we develop milestones and plans for delivering, monitoring and evaluating our strategy.
We will publish a baseline report next summer which will set out the latest statistics and evidence, with annual reporting thereafter to monitor and evaluate progress.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing statutory targets for reducing child poverty and deep poverty through the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our Child Poverty Strategy fulfils our commitment to reducing poverty this Parliament and sets out our ambition to fundamentally fix the structural drivers of child poverty as part of a long-term, 10-year strategy for lasting change. From the beginning of our time in government we have acted on child poverty including through increasing the minimum wage, the Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and the removal of the two child limit from April 2026.
In addition to the existing statutory duty on Government to publish poverty statistics annually, we will be monitoring progress using two complementary headline metrics. These will measure overall child poverty using our leading measure of relative low income and our new measure of deep material poverty that looks at families’ ability to afford essentials as well as their income and housing costs.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, published alongside the Strategy, sets out our plans to track progress against these metrics as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and continued learning. There will continue to be a dedicated team in government that, with Ministerial oversight, will work across government, the public and private sectors and civil society as we develop milestones and plans for delivering, monitoring and evaluating our strategy.
We will publish a baseline report next summer which will set out the latest statistics and evidence, with annual reporting thereafter to monitor and evaluate progress.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the independent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics will consider donations to individual (a) candidates and (b) politicians in addition to donations to political parties.
Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Rycroft review into foreign financial interference in UK politics will involve an in-depth assessment of current financial and bribery related rules and safeguards that regulate political parties and political finance. Those rules apply to candidates for election and regulated donees (among other groups). The review will also offer recommendations to mitigate risks from foreign interference. However, given the review’s independence, we cannot pre-empt specifics of the ground it will cover, nor the recommendations it will make.
The terms of reference for the review can be found here.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she received representations from Anas Sarwar MSP between 1 July 2025 and 27 November 2025 on the windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government receives representations from a wide range of stakeholders on the budget, including those from Scottish Labour.