Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that women in Syria, including those from minority groups, are included in peacebuilding and transitional justice processes, in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have consistently advocated for an inclusive political transition and underlined the importance of protecting the rights of all Syrians, including women, and an improved response to sectarian violence. The Foreign Secretary raised these issues with the Syrian Government during his recent visit to Damascus and offered UK support. Syria remains a focus country in the UK's 5th National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, guiding our efforts in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325. UK funding supports Syrian women's rights organisations to promote gender equality, strengthen women's roles in peacebuilding, and increase their participation in political and public life. Thirteen years on from the launch of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, the UK is proud of its leadership on this issue and continues to fund programmes in Syria which document human rights violations and support the trial and convictions of perpetrators of these crimes.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Syria regarding the protection of women from ethnic and religious minority communities; and how these efforts reflect the UK’s obligations under the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have consistently advocated for an inclusive political transition and underlined the importance of protecting the rights of all Syrians, including women, and an improved response to sectarian violence. The Foreign Secretary raised these issues with the Syrian Government during his recent visit to Damascus and offered UK support. Syria remains a focus country in the UK's 5th National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, guiding our efforts in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325. UK funding supports Syrian women's rights organisations to promote gender equality, strengthen women's roles in peacebuilding, and increase their participation in political and public life. Thirteen years on from the launch of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, the UK is proud of its leadership on this issue and continues to fund programmes in Syria which document human rights violations and support the trial and convictions of perpetrators of these crimes.
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will finalise their priorities for action on digital inclusion under the Digital Inclusion Action Plan: First Steps, published on 26 February.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is delivering on the commitments it made in the Digital Inclusion Action Plan published in February. Progress continues to be made on each of these. Future priorities will be informed by the Call for Evidence launched alongside the Action Plan; this closed on 9 April 2025 and a summary of responses was published on GOV.UK on 17 July 2025. Ongoing collaboration across government departments and with external partners, input from the Digital Inclusion Action Committee and DSIT’s longer-term spending plans, currently still being considered, will also contribute to the shaping of priorities.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
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.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guiding principles or policy frameworks are informing their internal discussions on the future of digital identity policy.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is committed to enabling the use of secure and trusted digital verification services across the UK economy for those who want to use them.
In response to the findings of the 2019 call for evidence on digital identity, the Government set out six principles to inform the development of digital identity policy in the UK. These are privacy, transparency, inclusivity, interoperability, proportionality, and good governance. The Government’s UK digital identity and attributes trust framework, which sets out rules for digital verification services that wish to be certified as trustworthy and will be underpinned by provisions in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, is based around these principles.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of international trends and standards in digital identity policy; and what discussions they have had with international partners regarding potential adoption of a digital identity policy.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government continues to assess international trends and standards in digital identity policy and implementation. This includes benchmarking the UK’s digital identity and attributes trust framework against other comparable international frameworks and guidelines. The Government also regularly engages with a range of international partners on a bilateral and multilateral basis.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to help (a) raise the profile and (b) increase levels of use of the Best Start digital service.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Best Start digital service is still in the early stages of development. The department is currently exploring how best to design, position and deliver the service to meet the needs of parents and families. As this work progresses, we will consider how to raise its profile and encourage take-up as part of the wider implementation approach.
Asked by: Lord Mott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the merits of developing a digital identity framework; and (2) its feasibility and impact.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In response to the 2019 call for evidence on digital identity, the Government committed to enabling the use of secure digital identities in the UK by creating a framework of standards, legislation and governance. In 2021, a consultation on digital identity gathered further views on the development of a legal and regulatory framework.
The Government’s UK digital identity and attributes trust framework sets out rules for digital verification services. It has been developed iteratively through extensive engagement with the ICO, civil society and industry stakeholders to help ensure that it meets the needs of users. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 will underpin this framework with statutory duties on the Secretary of State, including a duty to consult and to conduct annual reviews. Over 50 services are already certified against the trust framework and delivering digital verification services across the UK economy.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the threshold for qualifying for Small Employers' Relief was last up-rated, and from what level.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Small employers (those who have gross Class 1 National Insurance contributions liability of £45,000 or less in the previous tax year) can claim what is known as Small Employers Relief and can recover 100 percent of Statutory Maternity Pay they have paid out plus an additional compensation payment. This additional compensation payment is known as Small Employers’ Compensation and seeks to support small employers with the associated costs of having an employee on maternity leave which are not thought to affect large employers in the same way, such as the employer’s share of National Insurance contributions that might be payable, as well as administration and recruitment costs.
The same reimbursement arrangements apply to Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Statutory Neonatal Care Pay.
The threshold for qualifying as a small employer was increased in April 2004 from £40,000 to £45,000 (or less) of gross Class 1 National Insurance contributions liability in the previous tax year.