Asked by: Marie Goldman (Liberal Democrat - Chelmsford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the BBC's procedures for (a) identifying and (b) addressing antisemitic (i) content and (ii) tropes in its programming.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This Government will not tolerate antisemitism, which has no place in our society.
The BBC is an incredibly important institution, it plays a crucial role in ensuring all communities are heard and feel valued as part of our public life. That is the standard that we expect the BBC to be held to. The BBC itself has rightly acknowledged where coverage, standards and enforcement of those standards has fallen short.
The Secretary of State has had regular conversations with the Chair to understand the BBC’s plans to address concerns that have emerged in recent months, including how the BBC is approaching the issue of antisemitism.
In particular, the Government welcomes the actions taken by the BBC to strengthen editorial quality and standards for the BBC Arabic Service, as set out in the BBC Chair’s letter to the Media, Culture and Sport Committee of 10 November.
What is important moving forward, is that the BBC continues to demonstrate how it is working diligently to maintain the high standards for which it is rightfully recognised.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS trusts on the provision of (a) anti-racism and (b) unconscious bias training for NHS staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England have been working together to announce a series of measures to tackle antisemitism and racism across the National Health Service, which includes the introduction of mandatory antisemitism and anti-racism training for all NHS staff.
In terms of unconscious bias training, there is no national NHS-wide policy on this training in the NHS. Individual NHS organisations have responsibility for training their own staff and provide relevant training where appropriate.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to combat antisemitism (a) in secondary schools, (b) in colleges, and (c) on university campuses.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We must tackle antisemitism in every form to root this hatred out of our society. Education is critical to this.
The department has committed £7 million to fund projects and programmes to improve confidence and resilience in tackling antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities.
Universities should have robust processes in place to deal with acts of harassment and abuse on campus. We have called on universities to use every tool available to protect Jewish students from antisemitism.
The department is providing £2 million to the Holocaust Educational Trust to deliver the ‘Supporting Holocaust Survivor Testimony in Teaching’ programme. Teaching about antisemitism is integral to teaching this event.
The department supports teachers through our Educate Against Hate website, which provides teachers with a range of free, quality-assured resources, including on building resilience to antisemitism, teaching about tolerance and rejecting discrimination.
Asked by: Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East’s (UNRWA) implementation of Recommendation 35 of the Colonna Review, which calls for the removal of hate speech, incitement to violence, and antisemitic references from educational materials in UNRWA schools; and what evidence they have that UK-funded support has contributed to progress on that reform.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The UK continues to support implementation of the Colonna Report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to ensure they meet the highest standards on neutrality and integrity. 21 recommendations from the report have been completed, recommendation 35 is in progress. As per UNRWA's internal regulations, all references to hate speech, incitement to violence, and/or antisemitism are strictly banned from host-country textbooks, where locally produced supplements and materials are developed by UNRWA for use in its schools. The textbook review process in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria has been finalised, with findings shared with host countries and further dialogue taking place to address outstanding issues in line with UN and UNESCO standards.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the number of instances of (a) antisemitism (b) Islamophobia (c) other forms of race and religion based hate on social media platforms; and what discussions have taken place with platform owners on this issue since July 2024.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Under the Online Safety Act, in-scope services must protect all users from illegal abusive and hateful content, and children from abusive content where it does not reach the criminal threshold.
In October, the Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom and asked it to use all its levers to tackle antisemitic content online and hate speech more widely.
The government supports Ofcom’s intention to publish a report in December which will assess the impact of the Act’s duties so far. The government and Ofcom are carefully monitoring the impact of the Act.
Asked by: Baroness Barran (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 29 October (HL Deb cols 1378-79), how long they estimate it will take to address concerns raised following a referral of a university to the Office for Students under the new E6 condition.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This is a matter for the Office for Students (OfS), which has dedicated resources to investigate potential breaches of its conditions.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press release entitled Record funding to protect Jewish communities, published on 16 October 2025, over what period is the up to £10 million of funding to be allocated; and through which mechanisms will the funding be allocated.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Following the horrific terrorist attack at Heaton Park Synagogue, the Prime Minister announced £10 million of emergency funding on 16 October as part of a wider package of measures to combat antisemitism in the UK.
The funding will be provided to the Community Security Trust (CST) through the Jewish Community Protective Security (JCPS) Grant and is intended to be used within this financial year. The funding brings the total allocated through the JCPS Grant in 2025/26 to £28 million.
The additional funding will support increased security staffing and enhanced protective measures around Jewish sites, including synagogues, schools, and community centres. These measures include security personnel, CCTV, alarm systems, and floodlights.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the BBC on journalists working for BBC Arabic who have made antisemitic and pro-Hamas comments.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is crucial that the BBC upholds the highest standards of reporting and impartiality, so it remains the most trusted news source in the UK and overseas. The BBC has rightly acknowledged where coverage, standards and enforcement of those standards has fallen short. We welcome the actions taken by the BBC to strengthen editorial quality and standards for the BBC Arabic Service, as set out in the BBC Chair's letter to the Media, Culture and Sport Committee of 10 November, and we will continue to demand both rapid implementation and rigorous monitoring of those changes.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following analysis by the Royal College of Nursing showing an increase in complaints about racism at work, what steps they are taking to address the increase in racism and discrimination in the health service.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Any form of racism or discrimination is unacceptable and has no place in our National Health Service.
Action is being taken to address racism and discrimination in the NHS, including an urgent review of antisemitism, other forms of racism, and the oversight and regulation of healthcare professionals. The NHS is also strengthening mandatory anti-racism training across the NHS.
Additionally, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment which will include reducing violence against staff and tackling racism and sexual harassment. They will underpin the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.
Asked by: Warinder Juss (Labour - Wolverhampton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to impose penalties on NHS Trusts who fail to tackle (a) racism and (b) racial discrimination.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Any form of racism or discrimination is unacceptable and has no place in our National Health Service.
Action is being taken to address racism and discrimination in the NHS including an urgent review of antisemitism, other forms of racism and the oversight and regulation of healthcare professionals. The review will consider how regulators address complaints of antisemitism and other forms of racism from a complaint being raised, to investigation and fitness to practice proceedings. The review will also consider how greater transparency can be brought to regulatory processes, including General Medical Council investigations and Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service decision making on antisemitism and other racism complaints.
Additionally, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment which will include reducing violence against staff and tackling racism and sexual harassment. They will underpin the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.