Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, 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.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Home Office collects 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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, 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.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The merits of including Jewish or Sikh as an option when recording ethnicity in National Health Service data, and other issues relating to how the NHS records information on protected characteristics, are being considered by the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics (UISPC) programme. The UISPC programme is a wide-ranging NHS England and Department led review of equality monitoring that examines workforce, employment, and patient datasets and national surveys. It explores how best to update equality monitoring arrangements by reference to the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, 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.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

MHCLG do collect data on religion and/or belief. This includes Jewish and Sikh options. This data is collected separate to ethnic group data

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.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what data her Department holds on the number of people living in deprivation by ethnic group.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

We do not hold or collect data specifically on people belonging to an ethnic minority who live in deprivation. The indices of deprivation (2019) are publicly available and show patterns of deprivation across England and Wales. These data could be cross-checked with the Census data to show the geographic locations of people from ethnic minority groups.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency were enrolled on Pension Credit in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025 to date.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

As of November 2023, 2,586 pensioner households were in receipt of Pension Credit in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.

The latest Pension Credit statistics were published in May 2025 and cover the period up to November 2024. These show that as of November 2024, 2,577 pensioner households were in receipt of Pension Credit in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore.

The Pension Credit caseload statistics for 2025 are not available yet. The next iteration of Pension Credit caseload statistics will be released on 12^th August 2025 as part of the DWP Benefits Statistics quarterly release. This release will cover the quarterly period up to the end of February 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are enrolled on Pension Credit, by (a) religion and (b) ethnic group.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Latest caseload statistics show that as of November 2024, there were 1,391,728 pensioner households in receipt of Pension Credit. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore. This can be broken down into constituency and local authority level as well as by various characteristics such as age, gender and partner indicator. However, this cannot be broken down by religion or ethnic group, as this information is not collected as part of the PC claim process.

Question to the Department for Education:

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.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices (a) opened and (b) closed in (i) Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, (ii) Birmingham and (iii) the West Midlands between May 2010 and June 2024.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The tables in the document attached show the number of general practices (GPs) which have opened and closed between January 2014 and May 2025 in the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, in Birmingham, and in the West Midlands, as this is the furthest the data goes back to the most recently published.

This analysis only considers head practices and ignores branch practices. If a practice ceases to be a main practice and becomes a branch practice of another, this will count as a “closure” in this data, while in reality GP provision at the site may well have continued under the new head practice.

Practices close for a variety of reasons, including mergers or retirement, and so do not necessarily indicate a reduction in the quality of care. When a practice does close, patients are informed of the closure and advised to register at another local practice of their choice within their area.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full time equivalent NHS dentists were employed in (a) Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2024.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows how many full time equivalent (FTE) National Health Service dentists were employed in 2024 within the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB), which includes the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, as well as regional figures for the Midlands:

Notes:

1. we do not hold data on how many NHS dentists are employed at a constituency level or for the West Midlands region; and
2. FTE refers to hours worked by one full-time employee during a standard workweek. The employee is contracted to do 37.5 hours per week.

Data is not held for full time equivalent NHS dentists employed in 2010.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 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.

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

Defra 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.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent progress she has made with the banking industry on the roll out of banking hubs in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government recognises the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets in Birmingham Edgbaston, and across the country.

This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament.  

Over 230 hubs have been announced so far, and over 170 are already open.

The location of these hubs is determined independently by LINK, the industry coordinating body responsible for making access to cash assessments. When a cash service such as a bank branch closes, or if LINK receives a request directly from a community, LINK assesses a community’s access to cash needs. This assessment may lead to a recommendation for the establishment of a banking hub in that community.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Greater Birmingham and Solihull: Growth Deal, published on 7 July 2014, how much funding was (a) allocated and (b) provided for the Hagley Road SPRINT project.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Hagley Road Sprint was included in West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) £1.05bn City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) programme for the years 2022/23 to 2026/27. CRSTS is a devolved funding programme and it is for local leaders to decide how to allocate this funding to address their local transport priorities. WMCA has also been allocated a £2.4bn Transport for City Region (TCR) Settlement for the years 2027/28 to 2031/32 to support them to drive growth, improve access to opportunities and decarbonise their transport infrastructure.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data (a) his Department and (b) NHS England hold on the number of (i) Sikh and (ii) Jewish people with late stage cancer diagnoses.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, as the national cancer registry, collects and analyses diagnosis and treatment data on cancer patients in England. The religion of patients is not collected or stored by the NDRS. Further information on the NDRS is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data he holds on the number of (a) referrals and (b) complaints to social care services received by councils from (i) retirement residential home and (ii) independent living providers.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold this information.

By law, all health and social care services must have a procedure for dealing efficiently with complaints, and anyone who has seen or experienced poor-quality care has the right to complain to the organisation that provided or paid for the care.

If an individual is not satisfied with the way a provider or local authority has dealt with a complaint, they may escalate it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman who can investigate individual concerns.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate has she made of the number of children who will be eligible for Free School Meals under the plans to expand eligibility in (a) Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.

Providing over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day will also lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.

We have published data on the number of children who could benefit from expanded provision by constituency/region/local authority here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-school-meals-expansion-impact-on-poverty-levels.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency will receive funding from the school rebuilding programme.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government has given a long-term commitment for funding through to 2034/35 to improve the condition of schools and colleges across England.

The department is investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme and expanding the School Rebuilding Programme, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years.

Details of schools currently in the School Rebuilding Programme are published on GOV.UK, including the following schools in the constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston: Welsh House Farm Community School and Special Needs Resources Base, and Baskerville School. The department plans to set out further details about the selection process for the additional 250 schools to be selected for the programme later this year.

In addition, the department is investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance and renewal to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26. Details of annual capital funding are made available on GOV.UK.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, 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.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics. The Cabinet Office also uses these standards to collect diversity data.

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.

Found: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) MP for Birmingham Edgbaston) argued the definition of a terminal illness

Found: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) MP for Birmingham Edgbaston) argued the definition of a terminal illness