Preet Kaur Gill Portrait

Preet Kaur Gill

Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston

8,368 (22.4%) majority - 2024 General Election

First elected: 8th June 2017


Employment Rights Bill
13th Nov 2024 - 16th Jan 2025
Shadow Minister (Primary Care and Public Health)
6th Sep 2023 - 5th Jul 2024
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
24th Apr 2024 - 14th May 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
2nd Sep 2020 - 6th Sep 2023
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
6th Apr 2020 - 2nd Sep 2020
Shadow Minister (International Development)
12th Jan 2018 - 6th Apr 2020
Home Affairs Committee
11th Sep 2017 - 5th Feb 2018


Division Voting information

During the current Parliament, Preet Kaur Gill has voted in 216 divisions, and 3 times against the majority of their Party.

29 Nov 2024 - Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill - View Vote Context
Preet Kaur Gill voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 147 Labour No votes vs 234 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 330 Noes - 275
20 Jun 2025 - Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill - View Vote Context
Preet Kaur Gill voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 160 Labour No votes vs 224 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 314 Noes - 291
8 Jul 2025 - Football Governance Bill [Lords] - View Vote Context
Preet Kaur Gill voted No - against a party majority - in line with the party majority and against the House
One of 1 Labour No votes vs 331 Labour Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 415 Noes - 98
View All Preet Kaur Gill Division Votes

Debates during the 2024 Parliament

Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.

Sparring Partners
Rachel Reeves (Labour)
Chancellor of the Exchequer
(6 debate interactions)
Hamish Falconer (Labour)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
(5 debate interactions)
Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op))
Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
(4 debate interactions)
View All Sparring Partners
View all Preet Kaur Gill's debates

Birmingham Edgbaston Petitions

e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.

If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.

If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).

Preet Kaur Gill has not participated in any petition debates

Latest EDMs signed by Preet Kaur Gill

23rd March 2022
Preet Kaur Gill signed this EDM on Monday 28th March 2022

P&O Ferries and DP World

Tabled by: Karl Turner (Labour - Kingston upon Hull East)
That this House condemns in the strongest possible terms the decision of P&O Ferries to fire 800 staff without notice or consultation with their trade unions, the RMT and Nautilus; demands the immediate reinstatement of the sacked workers; condemns their replacement with agency workers earning as little as £1.80 per …
125 signatures
(Most recent: 27 Apr 2022)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 89
Scottish National Party: 12
Independent: 8
Liberal Democrat: 7
Plaid Cymru: 3
Democratic Unionist Party: 3
Alba Party: 2
Green Party: 1
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 1
23rd September 2021
Preet Kaur Gill signed this EDM on Monday 1st November 2021

Campaign to secure the future of the Covid Memorial Wall

Tabled by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
That this House welcomes the creation of the Covid Memorial Wall on Albert Embankment by Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice; notes that this memorial now includes over 150,000 hand-painted hearts to symbolise all those who lost their lives during the coronavirus pandemic; praises the work of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for …
139 signatures
(Most recent: 21 Feb 2022)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 92
Scottish National Party: 15
Liberal Democrat: 10
Independent: 9
Conservative: 5
Democratic Unionist Party: 4
Plaid Cymru: 3
Green Party: 1
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 1
View All Preet Kaur Gill's signed Early Day Motions

Commons initiatives

These initiatives were driven by Preet Kaur Gill, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.

MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.


Preet Kaur Gill has not been granted any Urgent Questions

Preet Kaur Gill has not been granted any Adjournment Debates

4 Bills introduced by Preet Kaur Gill


A Bill to make provision about the collection of religious information of the deceased where the death has been registered; to make provision for religious data to be provided on a voluntary basis; and for connected purposes.

Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Tuesday 29th October 2024
Next Event - 2nd Reading
Friday 12th September 2025

A Bill to provide that, where a public body collects data about ethnicity for the purpose of delivering public services, it must include specific 'Sikh' and 'Jewish' categories as options for a person’s ethnic group; and for connected purposes.

Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Wednesday 4th December 2024
(Read Debate)
Next Event - 2nd Reading
Friday 12th September 2025

A Bill to create an offence of possessing a blueprint for the production of a firearm by 3D printing; to create an offence of possessing part of a firearm produced by 3D printing; and for connected purposes.

Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading
Tuesday 29th October 2024
Next Event - 2nd Reading
Friday 12th September 2025

The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to require landlords to provide accounts of management charges payable under section 19 of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 to freehold property owners; and for connected purposes.

Commons - 20%

Last Event - 1st Reading: House Of Commons
Wednesday 5th June 2019
(Read Debate)

Latest 50 Written Questions

(View all written questions)
Written Questions can be tabled by MPs and Lords to request specific information information on the work, policy and activities of a Government Department
3 Other Department Questions
20th May 2025
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many people are employed in the Race Equality Unit; and how many of those people identify to each religious group.

The Race Equality Unit currently employs 9 people. Due to the number of employees within the Race Equality Unit being below 10 we are unable to publish the ethnic group information as it would enable individuals to be identified.

Seema Malhotra
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
20th May 2025
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many people are employed in the Race Equality Unit; and if she will publish the number of employees by ethnic group.

The Race Equality Unit currently employs 9 people. Due to the number of employees within the Race Equality Unit being below 10 we are unable to publish the ethnic group information as it would enable individuals to be identified.

Seema Malhotra
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
6th Nov 2024
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help improve women's health.

I would like to thank my Hon. Friend for her continued interest in women’s health.

Women’s health is a priority for this government, and we are considering how to take forward the Women’s Health Strategy.

Work continues to improve health outcomes for women, for example through the £25 million women’s health hubs pilot, and recent extension of the Baby Loss Certificate Service to all historic losses.

Karin Smyth
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
19th Mar 2025
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help ensure effective prosecutions in cases of violence against women and girls in Birmingham, Edgbaston constituency.

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a national emergency and through the Safer Streets Mission, this Government will deliver on our ambition to halve VAWG in a decade. A key part will be delivering effective prosecutions, and we continue to see improvements in the prosecution of VAWG offences.

As Solicitor General, I superintend the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is continuing to transform its approach to adult rape prosecution through the implementation of its new national operating model, based on robust evidence from Operation Soteria. Through this work, the CPS has seen substantial increases in referral, charge, and prosecution volumes for adult rape.

These improvements have also informed the Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan with policing which launched in November 2024. Better partnership with policing has already led to modest initial increases in domestic abuse referrals, setting a strong foundation for future improvements.

To address the increasingly complexity of VAWG offending and the holistic needs of victims, the CPS will also begin implementation of its 2025-30 VAWG strategy this spring. This will ensure prosecutors have the right skills and tools to prosecute VAWG effectively.

I was delighted to give a keynote address at a joint CPS, Home Office, and National Police Chiefs’ Council conference on tackling honour-based abuse held in Birmingham last week. On the same day, I met with the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the West Midlands and the Area’s Victim Liaison Unit and heard directly from CPS staff about the critical work they are doing to prosecute VAWG offences.

In the West Midlands police force area in 2023-24, the CPS prosecuted 1,596 domestic abuse flagged cases (an increase from 1,543 in 2022-23), 135 rape flagged cases (an increase from 108 in 2022-23), and 419 sexual offences (excluding rape flagged) cases (an increase from 295 in 2022-23).

Lucy Rigby
Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
19th Mar 2025
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help ensure effective prosecution rates (a) serious and (b) violent crime in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.

Reducing serious and violent crime is integral to this Government’s Safer Streets Mission and commitment to halve knife crime in a decade.

Our new Crime and Policing Bill will back our police by giving them enhanced and tougher powers to keep our streets safe, to tackle anti-social behaviour, and to crack down on knife crime.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes serious and violent crime robustly, providing early investigative advice on complex and serious offending to build strong cases and deliver justice for victims.

The CPS is working with cross-government partners to support the delivery of the Safer Streets Mission, and all CPS guidance and training is kept under constant review to ensure front-line prosecutors are equipped to prosecute these serious offences. Serious and violent crime encompasses many different types of crime but is more commonly associated with drug crime, knife crime, gun crime, and homicide.

In 2023-2024, the CPS prosecuted the following serious and violent offences in the West Midlands Police force area, in which the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency is located:

  • 1,249 defendants for drug offences under the principal category offence for drugs (which includes possession of controlled drugs, supplying or offering to supply controlled drugs, unlawful importation of controlled drugs, and manufacturing a scheduled substance) (up from 942 in 2022-23).

  • 1,645 offences for possession of a knife under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and Prevention of Crime Act 1953 (up from 1,408 in 2022-23).

  • 189 offences under the Firearms Act 1968 (up from 117 in 2022-23).

  • 124 defendants were prosecuted for homicide offences under the principal offence category for homicide (which includes offences of murder, attempted murder, causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult, child destruction, conspiring or soliciting to commit murder and causing death by dangerous or careless driving) (up from 73 in 2022-23).

Lucy Rigby
Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
10th Jun 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the annual population survey, what estimates he has made of the number of people who reported their religion as (a) Sikh and (b) Judaism in each of the past five years.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 10th June is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
22nd May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people who (a) answered no religion and (b) did not answer the optional religious question in the 2021 census who belong to (i) the Sikh ethnic group and (ii) the Jewish ethnic group.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
22nd May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any of the data sets published in ethnicity facts and figures have collected information on Jews as a legally recognised ethnic group since 1994.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
22nd May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any data sets have collected information on Jews as a legally recognised ethnic group since 1983; and whether he plans to retrospectively collect data on Jews.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
22nd May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any data sets have collected information on Sikhs as a legally recognised ethnic group since 1983; and whether he plans to retrospectively collect data on Sikhs.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
22nd May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data his Department holds on levels of mortality among Jewish people.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
22nd May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what data his Department holds on levels of mortality among Sikh people.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
20th May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the median hourly pay of people of Indian heritage was in each of the last five years.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 20th May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
20th May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the median hourly pay of people of Bangladeshi heritage was in each of the last five years.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 20th May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
20th May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the median hourly pay of people of Pakistani heritage was in each of the last five years.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 20th May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
20th May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the median hourly pay of Muslims was in each of the last five years.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 20th May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
20th May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the median hourly pay of Hindus was in each of the last five years.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 20th May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
20th May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will estimate the median hourly pay of Sikhs in each of the past five years.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 20th May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
20th May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of Jewish people in the UK in each of the past five years.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 20th May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
20th May 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimates he has made of the number of Sikh people in the UK in each of the past five years.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 20th May is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
28th Apr 2025
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths by suicide were recorded among Sikhs in each of the last five years.

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

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 28th April is attached.

Georgia Gould
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
1st Nov 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the number of workers that will benefit from the increase to the (a) National Minimum Wage and (b) National Living Wage in Birmingham.

In total, over 3 million workers are expected to receive a pay rise due to increases to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2025.

We will also publish an Impact Assessment alongside the legislation that implements the increase to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage. The Impact Assessment will provide a regional and country breakdown on the number of workers benefitting from an increase.

Justin Madders
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
1st Nov 2024
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many workers aged above 16 years old are paid within 50p of the (a) National Minimum Wage and (b) National Living Wage in (i) Birmingham and (ii) the West Midlands.

The Low Pay Commission publishes a report that provides a coverage of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) each year, shortly before the rates are updated in April. The report provides a Local Authority and Regional breakdown of NMW and NLW coverage, including those paid below or within 5p of the applicable rate. Data on those who are within 50p of the rates is not provided as part of the report.

Justin Madders
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
10th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero follows established government standards and guidance when collecting data on ethnicity. At present, there are no plans to introduce specific Sikh or Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in departmental data collection. For external surveys and research, we generally use the harmonised ethnicity standards developed by the Government Statistical Service (GSS), which currently do not include specific Sikh or Jewish categories. However, it is important to note that these standards are under ongoing review. In addition, while Sikh and Jewish are not included as ethnic categories, they are represented in the harmonised question on religion.

Michael Shanks
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
10th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.

DSIT collects ethnicity data through the voluntary completion of a diversity declaration by its staff. Like most public bodies, we collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics.

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 later this year.

We await the outcome of this review.

Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
19th Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of proposals to (a) integrate geospatial data into the National Data Library and (b) review licensing barriers to its use.

This Government has been clear that it wants to maximise the benefits from public sector data assets to deliver better public services and cutting-edge innovation. The National Data Library will provide simple, secure and ethical access to our key public data assets for researchers, policy makers and business.

Work is underway to design the National Data Library, including consideration of the data to be included and how it should be licensed, and decisions on its design and implementation will be set out in due course.

Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
10th Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what progress has been made on revising the Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice.

Under the existing regulations telecommunications operators are responsible for the guidelines governing the deployment of above ground infrastructure. In response to my concerns about the installation of unnecessarily intrusive telecommunications infrastructure, the industry convened a working group to examine the existing Cabinet Siting and Pole Siting Code of Practice, and to issue new guidelines for the deployment of telegraph poles.

Whilst this work is entirely for industry to undertake, I understand that industry trade bodies expect to publish the guidelines this spring and urge them to do so as soon as possible.

Chris Bryant
Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
28th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help promote the creation of AI infrastructure including (a) data centres and (b) high-performance computing to support the growth of AI technologies in (i) Birmingham and (ii) the West Midlands.

The government recognises the critical role of AI infrastructure in supporting advanced AI technologies. The AI Opportunities Action Plan outlines how the UK can build the cutting-edge compute infrastructure needed to lead in AI development and deployment, securing long-term economic growth and staying at the forefront of AI innovation.

We are ramping up compute capacity to deliver game-changing innovation for businesses, public services, and to drive growth across the whole of the UK. We will partner with devolved administrations, regional and local authorities to establish AI Growth Zones, ensuring substantial regional and national benefits, such as upskilling and employment opportunities, are felt across the country.

Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
28th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help establish international partnerships in AI research and development.

The UK is committed to working closely with our international partners to promote the development and use of AI, including by driving collaboration on shared research and development initiatives. We will deliver on the recommendations recently announced AI Opportunities Action Plan, including expanding the Turing AI Fellowships offer, doubling the capacity of the AI Research Resource (AIRR) and strengthening the UK’s participating in the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC). This will facilitate joint AI research by broadening the compute resources that UK researchers and businesses can access.

Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
28th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help improve AI skills in the workforce.

Lifelong learning and adaptability are key to ensuring everyone can prosper in an increasingly technology-driven world.

Matt Clifford’s AI Opportunities Action Plan outlines the steps the UK must take to build a strong, diverse talent pipeline, realising AI benefits across sectors and the government has agreed to take forward its recommendations.

Skills England will work closely with DSIT and the Industrial Skills Council. They will bring together businesses, training partners, and unions with national and local government to assess the country’s AI skills needs and map pathways to fill them.

Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
28th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of AI Growth Zones on AI capabilities in the UK.

The AI Growth Zones (AIGZs) will help secure the UK’s position as a global leader in AI innovation, ensuring benefits for the whole of the UK. AI infrastructure is the backbone of the AI ecosystem, and is crucial to supporting its growth. AIGZs are closely aligned with wider government initiatives, including Local Growth Plans.

AIGZs will deliver substantial regional and national benefits, such as upskilling and employment opportunities. The investment in AI-enabled data centres will have a spillover effect in local communities, providing jobs, enhancing skills, rejuvenating areas, and driving the UK’s ambition to become a global hub for AI talent and investment.

Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
28th Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment has he made of the AI skills gap.

Reducing the AI skills gap is critical for increasing the UK’s productivity and delivering long-term growth. DSIT regularly reviews the status of the UK’s AI labour market, and most recently commissioned Gardiner & Theobald LLP to conduct a survey of the labour market, which we will publish this year. In response to the recommendations set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan developed by Matt Clifford, DSIT will also work closely with DfE and Skills England to assess the size of the AI skills gap and map pathways to fill it. Skills England will publish its first assessment in the spring.

Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
22nd Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the digital driving licence will be accepted as a valid form of photo ID.

While the legal purpose of the driving licence is to convey driving entitlement, they are already commonly accepted as proof of age or identity. The Department for Science and Technology’s (DSIT) ambition is that, in time, the digital driving licence will be usable in the same way as its physical counterparts. In order to achieve this, and as part of our work to deliver a UK digital driving licence, we will be exploring all legal, regulatory, and technical implications.

Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
22nd Jan 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's press release of 21 January 2025 entitled Shake up of tech and AI usage across NHS and other public services to deliver plan for change, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of making these tools available to (a) parliamentary staff, (b) the public sector and (c) more widely.

The Government is excited about the opportunity presented to adopt AI for the public good, including for parliamentary staff and the public sector at large. In service of this, the Government has introduced the GDS Blueprint which outlined the GovAI toolkit. This is a set of productivity tools designed to enhance civil service operations and delivery of ministerial priorities. Developed by the Incubator for AI within the Government Digital Service, these tools are rapidly prototyped and deployed across the public sector once productivity benefits have been established.

Feryal Clark
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
10th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics.

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 later this year.

We await the outcome of this review.

Stephanie Peacock
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
8th Apr 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which listed places of worship have received grants under the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency since the inception of that scheme.

Reliable data from before 2022 is not available, but since August 2022, 8 listed places of worship have received awards to a total value of £46,074.27 through the grant scheme in the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency. These were St Germain’s Church receiving £35,316.97; St Augustine’s of Hippo Church receiving £2,922.10; St Peter’s Church receiving £2,513.00; St George’s Church receiving £2,057.68; Oasis Church receiving £1,283.18; Saint Bartholomew receiving £1,133.00; Methodist Church South Street receiving £698.34; and St Faith & St Laurence Church receiving £150.00.

Chris Bryant
Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
10th Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public libraries across England and Wales were open in the most recent 10 years for which data is available.

DCMS has policy responsibility for public libraries in England only.

The following table shows the number of open static libraries in England in the most recent 10 years for which data is available. The data is taken from the Arts Council England Basic Dataset for Libraries 2023 which consolidated and validated previous datasets.

1/7/2016

31/12/2019

31/12/2021

31/12/2022

31/12/2023

Number of open static libraries included in the dataset

3,010

2,938

2,914

2,894

2,8771

Number of open static libraries within the statutory provision

2,727

2,585

2,550

2,576

2,5781

1. Figures do not include 10 static libraries for which the operating model is unknown

Chris Bryant
Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
10th Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the contribution of the creative sectors in (a) Birmingham, Edgbaston, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands to the UK economy.

The creative industries sector is one of eight growth-driving sectors identified in the government’s Industrial Strategy. We will publish a Creative Industries Sector Plan to drive growth in the late spring. The creative industries can be found in clusters throughout the UK, with the Creative Policy and Evidence Centre noting 55 clusters making a strong contribution to the sector’s contribution of £124bn to the UK’s GVA.

In 2023, the West Midlands was one of the top three regions in terms of median annual earnings for the creative industries (£40,650). The West Midlands’ Creative Industries contributed £4 billion to the UK economy and there were 138,000 filled jobs in the sector in the region. This includes a strong presence in video games, film and television as well as in the wider culture and creative industries.

Government support for the sector has included £520,000 to the West Midlands region to provide creative industries specific business support and develop regional investor readiness through the Create Growth Programme. This is delivered in combination with the West Midlands Combined Authority, Creative UK, Create Central and Innovate UK with funding from DCMS. A further £425,000 will be provided by DCMS via the Integrated Settlement during the 2025/26 Financial Year.

In November at the Beyond Conference, we announced £6.74m to deliver the CreaTech Futures Creative Industries Cluster with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. This will drive research and development, business innovation and skills within the creative industries ecosystem across the West Midlands. This will be led by Birmingham City University with Coventry University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Warwick and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Cluster will create a network of four complementary, interconnected R&D labs in immersive audio and video technologies, virtual production, applied AI for createch and gaming, esports, and animation.

At the Creative Industries Growth Moment in January, we announced additional funding, to be agreed as part of the Spending Review to six Mayoral Combined Authorities including the West Midlands Combined Authority to drive business growth.

Chris Bryant
Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
10th Jul 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

The department 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 later this year. We await the outcome of this review.

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
17th Jun 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of classifications that children's services use to record child sexual abuse.

The number of episodes of children in need with the ‘sexual abuse’ and ‘child sexual exploitation’ factors identified in an assessment in the year ending 31 March 2024 can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/12ce1c63-e357-4177-3d87-08ddae36ea5c. Factors identified at the end of assessment are additional factors that social workers record as being relevant in a case.

These figures are based on assessment factors recorded against individual episodes of need, which begin when a child is referred to children’s social care services and is assessed as being in need of children’s social care services. Each unique factor is counted once against a given episode, irrespective of the number of times the same factor was recorded in that episode. However, as a child can have more than one episode of need during the year ending 31 March, the same child can be recorded more than once for a given factor.

The majority of children have more than one unique factor recorded for each episode of need. It should be noted that not all episodes have factors recorded, but this has improved over time. Nonetheless, there can be differences in the recording practices between local authorities. Therefore this data should be treated with caution and should not be taken to represent the national, regional or local authority prevalence of particular issues.

The number of child protection plans as at 31 March 2024 where sexual abuse was the initial or latest category of abuse is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/a9a79795-cdd0-42fc-8333-08ddaf142d69.

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
22nd May 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the number of students enrolled in higher education in the (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24 academic years, broken down by religion.

Statistics on higher education (HE) student enrolments by personal characteristics, including the number of HE student enrolments in the 2023/24 and 2023/24 academic years broken down by religious beliefs, are published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency and can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb271/figure-5.

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
8th Apr 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of five year olds were school ready in (a) Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands in each of the last 10 years.

Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. That is why the department’s Plan for Change set out our ambition for a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn in the classroom. We will measure our progress through 75% of children reaching a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile assessment by 2028.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile was significantly revised in September 2021. It is therefore not possible to directly compare assessment outcomes since 2021/22 with earlier years.

The department has published data through the early years foundation stage teacher assessment since 2021/2022 which can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results/2023-24.

Local authority and regional data from 2013 to 2019 can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results-2018-to-2019.

Stephen Morgan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
31st Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to provide opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds to learn a musical instrument.

Music is an essential part of supporting children and young people to develop creativity and find their voice. The government believes creative subjects like music, art and drama are important elements of the rounded and enriching education every child deserves.

On 18 March 2025, the department announced its intention to launch a National Centre for Arts and Music Education to promote opportunities for children and young people to pursue their artistic and creative interests in school, including through the government’s network of music hubs. The department intends to launch this centre in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement. Further details will be released in due course.

To support the delivery of music education, the government has committed £79 million per year for the music hubs programme, including the 2024/25 academic year. The 43 music hubs partnerships across England offer a range of services, including musical instrument tuition, instrument loaning and whole-class ensemble teaching. All partnerships have a local plan in place with an inclusion strategy that sets out specific support for disadvantaged children, including young people eligible for the pupil premium and those identified with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). To widen access to musical instruments, the government is investing £25 million in capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year.

The government is also investing £2 million to support the Music Opportunities Pilot over a four-year period from the 2024/25 academic year to the 2027/28 academic year, backed by a further £3.85 million funding from Arts Council England and Youth Music. This pilot is delivered by Young Sounds UK in 12 areas of the country and aims to help disadvantaged children and young people, as well as those with SEND, to learn how to play an instrument of their choice or learn to sing to a high standard. The findings from the pilot will inform future policy on widening music opportunities.

Catherine McKinnell
Minister of State (Education)
19th Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the number of young people not in education, employment or training in (a) Birmingham and b) Birmingham, Edgbaston constituency.

The department publishes statistics on those not in education, employment or training (NEET) for England from the Labour Force Survey for young people aged 16-24. An overview of the publication can be found here:https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief.

The number of 16-24-year-olds estimated as NEET in England at the end of 2024 is estimated to be 837,000, which is equivalent to 13.6% of the population. These estimates are not available at lower-level geographies due to limitations with sample sizes. Therefore, NEET rates for young people aged 16-24 in Birmingham and Birmingham Edgbaston constituency are not available.

However, local authorities are required to encourage, enable or assist young people’s participation in education or training and return management information for young people aged 16 and 17. Data for the 2023/24 academic year was published in ‘Participation in education, training and NEET age 16 to 17 by local authority’, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-training-and-neet-age-16-to-17-by-local-authority/2023-24.

The data shows that of the 33,264 young people aged 16 and 17 years old who were known to Birmingham local authority at the end of 2023, 2,037 were NEET or their activity was not known. These statistics are published as transparency data, so some caution should be taken if using these figures.

In addition, 16-18 destination measures are published. These official statistics show the percentage of pupils not continuing to a sustained education, apprenticeship or employment destination in the year after completing 16-18 study. This can be used as a proxy to determine how many can be classified as NEET at the age of 18. The latest publication includes destinations in 2022/23 by parliamentary constituency boundaries at that time. Data can be found here for Birmingham Edgbaston parliamentary constituency: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8969680b-7fea-4615-ce51-08dd66bfee22.

Janet Daby
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
10th Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to boost physical activity among children and young people.

This government is committed to providing all young people with more opportunities to be physically active. We have set out our intention to support more children to be active by protecting time for PE in schools and working across government to support the role grassroots clubs play in expanding access to sport and physical activity.

To further support children to be active, this government committed £320 million for the primary PE and sport premium this academic year (2024/25), benefiting over 18,000 schools and around 3.9 million pupils in England.

The department has also launched an open procurement for a new grant programme from spring 2025, of up to £300,000 a year. This will focus on improving and increasing PE, school sport and physical activity opportunities for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

The department is working with the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport when considering our future investment into PE and school sport, to ensure this enables the maximum benefit to providing children with opportunities to be physically active.

The department also launched an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review in 2024 which will seek to deliver a curriculum which is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative, so that all children and young people do not miss out on subjects such as music, art, PE and drama, as well as vocational subjects. The interim report of findings was published on 18 March 2025.

Catherine McKinnell
Minister of State (Education)
10th Mar 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on developing a food strategy that addresses both (a) public health and health inequalities and (b) affordability.

Our ambitious food strategy will set and deliver clear long-term outcomes that create a healthier, fairer, and more resilient food system, and in doing so will consider elements of the food system that can contribute towards those outcomes.

In developing the strategy, we are establishing a new way of working with the sector and building on strong partnerships across the food system to pool our expertise, influence and effort and develop collective commitments, backed by a clear vision and framework for change from the Government, to improve the outcomes the food system delivers. We will provide details of process, engagement and milestones in the coming months.

Daniel Zeichner
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
7th Feb 2025
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including (a) the Cane Corso and (b) crossbreeds between a Cane Corso and a Rottweiler under S.1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

The Government currently have no plans to add these breed types to Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. Owners of any breed of dog which is dangerously out of control are breaking the law. We will continue to encourage responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog and to consider whether the current dog control rules are sufficient to ensure communities are protected.

Daniel Zeichner
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)