Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many leaks were reported across water supply infrastructure in Barking constituency over the last five years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency monitors water company leakage through annual reporting across a 12-month period, assessing delivery against Water Resources Management Plans. Water companies have committed to reducing leakage by 50% from 2017/18 levels by 2050. Under the Environment Act 2021, the statutory Water Demand Target includes an interim target to reduce leakage by 30% by 2032, helping put companies on a pathway to meet the 2050 commitment. Government is also supporting smart meter rollout, which can help identify leakage through more timely and accurate data.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with Thames Water regarding sewage discharge in the River Roding.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Thames Water assets, including sewage treatment works, pumping stations, sewers and surface water outfalls, are regularly considered in pollution investigations within the River Roding catchment. Thames Water is progressing Environment Agency approved Asset Management Period 8 (AMP8) schemes, including storm overflow investigations, enhanced monitoring and infrastructure upgrades, to reduce pollution and sewage discharge impacts.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve water quality of the River Thames tributaries such as the River Roding.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The River Roding is affected by wastewater discharges, urban drainage and sewer misconnections. The Environment Agency works with partners to address these pressures through the Government’s Plan for Water. Under Thames Water’s Asset Management Period 8 (AMP8) programme, investigations, enhanced monitoring and storm overflow improvements are being delivered to reduce pollution impacts.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he is considering to support small and medium sized businesses operating in high street premises.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s Plan for Small Businesses sets out measures to support high street businesses by addressing crime, updating our licensing regime and targeting funding through our Pride in Place and High Street and Growth Incubator programmes. Businesses on the high street are also benefitting from new tools to access finance, action on late payments and regulatory costs, greater digital adoption and easier access to business support through the Business Growth Service.
Permanently lower business rate multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure properties announced last year are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties. Alongside this we introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion to protect ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills due to revaluation.
Further action will be announced in a new High Streets Strategy later this year.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of hate crime around places of worship.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.
In 2025/26, up to £50.9 million is available to protect faith communities and places of worship, including £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, and £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques scheme and for security at Muslim faith schools.
As part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to safeguarding religious freedom and community safety, we are also introducing a new measure within the Crime and Policing Bill that strengthens police powers around all places of worship.
Further to their existing powers, this measure will enable the police to place conditions on protests near places of worship, preventing disruptive tactics and ensuring worshippers can practise their faith peacefully.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department uses for allocating protective security funds to different religious groups under the places of worship protective security fund; and whether the number of reported religiously motivated hate crimes is a factor in that decision-making process.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
Funding allocations for the Home Office's protective security schemes for faith communities are informed by threat and risk. We draw on a range of information, such as data on religiously motivated hate crime and assessments from policing and intelligence partners on wider security threats, to ensure that funding allocations remain proportionate and responsive to the needs of different communities.
Funding allocations have previously been increased in response to specific incidents and emerging threats, and the Home Office continuously keeps these under review to ensure that support is directed where it is most needed.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the number of hate crime incidences recorded in (a) the Barking constituency and (b) London in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Home Office publishes official statistics on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales at the Police Force Area level.
Data for the Metropolitan and City of London Police forces, for the year ending March 2024, can be found in Open Data Tables here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help keep (a) mosques and (b) muslim faith schools secure.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.
The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides protective security measures (such as security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing) to mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. Protective security measures are also available to Muslim faith schools. Up to £29.4 million per year is being made available for this work from 2024/25 to 2027/28.
Work is also underway to develop a new Faith Security Training scheme to raise awareness amongst faith communities of how to improve their safety and security, and to help them prepare to mitigate any threats they may face. We are in the process of competitively tendering for a supplier to deliver this scheme and further details will be shared once the procurement process is complete.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of protective security schemes for religious places of worship.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.
The Home Office continuously reviews the effectiveness and proportionality of its protective security schemes for faith communities through evaluating information provided by policing and intelligence partners on threat and risk, monitoring data on uptake of the schemes, and reviewing feedback from faith communities and other stakeholders.
Furthermore, protective security measures are provided to places of worship and other faith community sites following a thorough risk assessment process that takes into account the security requirements of individual sites and determines the most effective measures to implement. Regular reviews of these requirements are then undertaken for sites that receive ongoing security.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to support a political solution in Cyprus .
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is fully committed to supporting ongoing UN efforts to reach a Cyprus Settlement. I represented the UK at the informal talks in Geneva in March chaired by the UN Secretary General, where I encouraged all sides to engage constructively towards a Settlement. I welcome the outcomes of the Geneva meeting, notably the Secretary General's appointment of a Personal Envoy on Cyprus and the agreement to six initiatives to build trust between the two communities. Ahead of the New York meeting, I am continuing to encourage all sides to engage constructively. I am in regular contact with the Republic of Cyprus' Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos. I also both met Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and spoke to opposition leader Tufan Erhürman on 25 June. On 1 July, I met the Secretary General's Personal Envoy, María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, and we discussed how the UK can best support her efforts to bring progress towards a Settlement. The UK also continues to contribute to peace and stability in Cyprus through our deployment of military personnel to the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).