Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2023 to Question 187240 on Independent Faith Engagement Review, if he will breakdown that expenditure by (a) expenses and (b) other costs.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The independent faith advisor's contract and payment terms were approved in the usual way.
The call for evidence questionnaire has been published on gov.uk page. The questions asked during interviews were not scripted.
In relation to the call for evidence, a broad range of individuals and organisations submitted responses.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are those of Mr Bloom.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review, with due consideration to existing official and Ministerial level engagement and communications.
In line with previous practice, a further breakdown of costings not be published.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2023 to Question 192910 on Independent Faith Engagement Review, what oversight there is of the spending of the independent faith adviser.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The independent faith advisor's contract and payment terms were approved in the usual way.
The call for evidence questionnaire has been published on gov.uk page. The questions asked during interviews were not scripted.
In relation to the call for evidence, a broad range of individuals and organisations submitted responses.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are those of Mr Bloom.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review, with due consideration to existing official and Ministerial level engagement and communications.
In line with previous practice, a further breakdown of costings not be published.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason his Department decided that the Independent Faith Engagement Review call for evidence should be open for 28 days; and whether he sought independent advice on this decision.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In relation to the call for evidence, information is in the process of being deleted according to our published privacy notice.
In relation to additional in-person meetings and any written evidence submitted to the reviewer outside the call for evidence, I want to re-iterate that as an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review. He was not under any obligation to inform officials of his meetings or to pass on any written evidence.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are Mr Bloom's own.
With this in mind, we can provide the following information:
Religion | Respondent Count | Percentage of Respondents |
Christian | 9874 | 47.01% |
Muslim | 4189 | 19.94% |
Hindu | 2522 | 12.01% |
Atheist/Humanist | 2466 | 11.74% |
Pagan | 381 | 1.81% |
Sikh | 354 | 1.69% |
Jain | 253 | 1.20% |
Ahmadi Muslim | 247 | 1.18% |
Jewish | 210 | 1.00% |
Buddhist | 71 | 0.34% |
Bahá'í | 47 | 0.22% |
Quaker | 38 | 0.18% |
Spiritual | 29 | 0.14% |
Spiritualist | 14 | 0.07% |
Zoroastrian | 10 | 0.05% |
Taoist | 4 | 0.02% |
Dual religious identities | 82 | 0.39% |
Multiple religious identities | 54 | 0.26% |
Prefer not to say | 80 | 0.38% |
N/A | 78 | 0.37% |
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of (a) respondents to the call for evidence and (b) people who gave evidence in person to the Independent Faith Engagement Review were from the Sikh community.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In relation to the call for evidence, information is in the process of being deleted according to our published privacy notice.
In relation to additional in-person meetings and any written evidence submitted to the reviewer outside the call for evidence, I want to re-iterate that as an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review. He was not under any obligation to inform officials of his meetings or to pass on any written evidence.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are Mr Bloom's own.
With this in mind, we can provide the following information:
Religion | Respondent Count | Percentage of Respondents |
Christian | 9874 | 47.01% |
Muslim | 4189 | 19.94% |
Hindu | 2522 | 12.01% |
Atheist/Humanist | 2466 | 11.74% |
Pagan | 381 | 1.81% |
Sikh | 354 | 1.69% |
Jain | 253 | 1.20% |
Ahmadi Muslim | 247 | 1.18% |
Jewish | 210 | 1.00% |
Buddhist | 71 | 0.34% |
Bahá'í | 47 | 0.22% |
Quaker | 38 | 0.18% |
Spiritual | 29 | 0.14% |
Spiritualist | 14 | 0.07% |
Zoroastrian | 10 | 0.05% |
Taoist | 4 | 0.02% |
Dual religious identities | 82 | 0.39% |
Multiple religious identities | 54 | 0.26% |
Prefer not to say | 80 | 0.38% |
N/A | 78 | 0.37% |
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with which faith organisations the Government has a policy of not engaging.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In relation to the call for evidence, information is in the process of being deleted according to our published privacy notice.
In relation to additional in-person meetings and any written evidence submitted to the reviewer outside the call for evidence, I want to re-iterate that as an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review. He was not under any obligation to inform officials of his meetings or to pass on any written evidence.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are Mr Bloom's own.
With this in mind, we can provide the following information:
Religion | Respondent Count | Percentage of Respondents |
Christian | 9874 | 47.01% |
Muslim | 4189 | 19.94% |
Hindu | 2522 | 12.01% |
Atheist/Humanist | 2466 | 11.74% |
Pagan | 381 | 1.81% |
Sikh | 354 | 1.69% |
Jain | 253 | 1.20% |
Ahmadi Muslim | 247 | 1.18% |
Jewish | 210 | 1.00% |
Buddhist | 71 | 0.34% |
Bahá'í | 47 | 0.22% |
Quaker | 38 | 0.18% |
Spiritual | 29 | 0.14% |
Spiritualist | 14 | 0.07% |
Zoroastrian | 10 | 0.05% |
Taoist | 4 | 0.02% |
Dual religious identities | 82 | 0.39% |
Multiple religious identities | 54 | 0.26% |
Prefer not to say | 80 | 0.38% |
N/A | 78 | 0.37% |
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, who gave evidence in person to the Independent Faith Engagement Review; and how many and what proportion of those people also provided written evidence through the call for evidence.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In relation to the call for evidence, information is in the process of being deleted according to our published privacy notice.
In relation to additional in-person meetings and any written evidence submitted to the reviewer outside the call for evidence, I want to re-iterate that as an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review. He was not under any obligation to inform officials of his meetings or to pass on any written evidence.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are Mr Bloom's own.
With this in mind, we can provide the following information:
Religion | Respondent Count | Percentage of Respondents |
Christian | 9874 | 47.01% |
Muslim | 4189 | 19.94% |
Hindu | 2522 | 12.01% |
Atheist/Humanist | 2466 | 11.74% |
Pagan | 381 | 1.81% |
Sikh | 354 | 1.69% |
Jain | 253 | 1.20% |
Ahmadi Muslim | 247 | 1.18% |
Jewish | 210 | 1.00% |
Buddhist | 71 | 0.34% |
Bahá'í | 47 | 0.22% |
Quaker | 38 | 0.18% |
Spiritual | 29 | 0.14% |
Spiritualist | 14 | 0.07% |
Zoroastrian | 10 | 0.05% |
Taoist | 4 | 0.02% |
Dual religious identities | 82 | 0.39% |
Multiple religious identities | 54 | 0.26% |
Prefer not to say | 80 | 0.38% |
N/A | 78 | 0.37% |
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, who responded to the call for evidence for the Independent Faith Engagement Review by (a) faith group and (b) organisation.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In relation to the call for evidence, information is in the process of being deleted according to our published privacy notice.
In relation to additional in-person meetings and any written evidence submitted to the reviewer outside the call for evidence, I want to re-iterate that as an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review. He was not under any obligation to inform officials of his meetings or to pass on any written evidence.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are Mr Bloom's own.
With this in mind, we can provide the following information:
Religion | Respondent Count | Percentage of Respondents |
Christian | 9874 | 47.01% |
Muslim | 4189 | 19.94% |
Hindu | 2522 | 12.01% |
Atheist/Humanist | 2466 | 11.74% |
Pagan | 381 | 1.81% |
Sikh | 354 | 1.69% |
Jain | 253 | 1.20% |
Ahmadi Muslim | 247 | 1.18% |
Jewish | 210 | 1.00% |
Buddhist | 71 | 0.34% |
Bahá'í | 47 | 0.22% |
Quaker | 38 | 0.18% |
Spiritual | 29 | 0.14% |
Spiritualist | 14 | 0.07% |
Zoroastrian | 10 | 0.05% |
Taoist | 4 | 0.02% |
Dual religious identities | 82 | 0.39% |
Multiple religious identities | 54 | 0.26% |
Prefer not to say | 80 | 0.38% |
N/A | 78 | 0.37% |
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what questions were asked to faith communities during interviews for the Independent Faith Engagement Review.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
In relation to the call for evidence, information is in the process of being deleted according to our published privacy notice.
In relation to additional in-person meetings and any written evidence submitted to the reviewer outside the call for evidence, I want to re-iterate that as an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom was free to meet with any individuals or organisations he chose to inform his review. He was not under any obligation to inform officials of his meetings or to pass on any written evidence.
As an Independent reviewer, Colin Bloom met with a with a wide range of stakeholders - including charities, organisations, academics and other sectoral experts and key individuals of all faiths and none - whom he deemed to have relevant insight into particular themes relevant to his report. Given the sensitive issues covered in his review, Colin Bloom was committed to preserving respondents' anonymity so they could speak freely. While these anonymised sources and external analysis have informed the review, the views and recommendations expressed are Mr Bloom's own.
With this in mind, we can provide the following information:
Religion | Respondent Count | Percentage of Respondents |
Christian | 9874 | 47.01% |
Muslim | 4189 | 19.94% |
Hindu | 2522 | 12.01% |
Atheist/Humanist | 2466 | 11.74% |
Pagan | 381 | 1.81% |
Sikh | 354 | 1.69% |
Jain | 253 | 1.20% |
Ahmadi Muslim | 247 | 1.18% |
Jewish | 210 | 1.00% |
Buddhist | 71 | 0.34% |
Bahá'í | 47 | 0.22% |
Quaker | 38 | 0.18% |
Spiritual | 29 | 0.14% |
Spiritualist | 14 | 0.07% |
Zoroastrian | 10 | 0.05% |
Taoist | 4 | 0.02% |
Dual religious identities | 82 | 0.39% |
Multiple religious identities | 54 | 0.26% |
Prefer not to say | 80 | 0.38% |
N/A | 78 | 0.37% |
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to require landlords soundproof individual flats when redeveloping houses as flats.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
When there is a material change of use, the Building Regulations 2010 require that work is carried out so there is reasonable resistance to sound in dwelling houses, flats and rooms for residential purposes.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much the independent faith engagement adviser has been paid each year since 2019; and if he will provide a breakdown of the (a) expenses and (b) other costs to the public purse associated with the post in each of those years.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
The department spent a total of £225,175 on the Independent Faith Engagement Review from 2019 to 2023. The department spent £42,245 in financial year 2019-20, £78,447 in 2020-21, £60,656 in 2021-22, £39,557 in 2022-23, and £4,268 in 2023-24. Details of departmental expenditure are also set out regularly on gov.uk.