Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she is having with her Cabinet colleagues on ensuring that ethnic minority communities are able to choose the terminology used by the Government to indicate their community.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
On 17 March 2022 I published ‘Inclusive Britain’. It includes an action for the Cabinet Office Race Disparity Unit to lead work to engage with people from different ethnic groups to better understand the language and terminology with which they identify.
This work, which is being delivered in partnership with the Office for National Statistics, is underway and I will report back to Parliament on progress with this, and the other 73 actions in Inclusive Britain, in March 2023.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to help ensure that local authorities provide resources and facilities to enable groups from all racial backgrounds to self organise and to access spaces that meet their social needs.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Community spaces have a significant role to play in developing social networks, encouraging community participation, and promoting civic pride. Local authorities along with other public services and the voluntary and community sector do support groups from all backgrounds to access spaces and facilities which enable neighbourhoods to thrive and flourish.
In the Levelling Up White Paper we set out plans to work with partners in local government to develop a new Strategy for Community Spaces and Relationships. The Strategy will provide the framework which supports strong community infrastructure and bolsters community connection.
In addition, the 4-year £150 million Community Ownership Fund, is currently providing community groups with the financial help and practical support to bring local assets at risk of loss by bring them into community ownership.
Finally, our response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities' findings, 'Inclusive Britain', sets out a ground-breaking action plan to tackle negative disparities, promote unity and build a fairer Britain for all.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps he has taken to help tackle discrimination against Romani people.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Equality Act 2010 provides protection against discrimination for people because of various characteristics, including race, which covers colour, nationality, and ethnic and national origins. The Roma community is considered to be an ethnic group for the purposes of legislation.
The Government sponsors the Equality Advisory & Support Service (EASS), which is a free helpline offering advice and support to anyone in England, Scotland, and Wales who feels that they have suffered discrimination or had their human rights infringed. One of the stakeholder organisations that the EASS regularly deals with is Friends, Families and Travellers which works on behalf of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the report published by Lloyds Bank entitled Black. British. In Business & Proud, what steps he is taking to increase the confidence of the UK's Black business community in the banking and financial services sector.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
On 17 March, the Government published “Inclusive Britain” in response to the independent report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, setting out a ground-breaking action plan to tackle negative disparities, promote unity and build a fairer Britain for all. The Government has responded in detail to each of the Commission’s 24 recommendations from its report. In some cases, The Government’s response has gone further than the report envisaged, to ensure that our action plan is as wide-reaching as possible and builds a fairer and more inclusive society in the long-term.
The Government is very supportive of the Race At Work Charter, which over 100 financial services firms have already signed up to. The Charter commits firms that sign up to take practical steps to tackle barriers that ethnic minority people face in recruitment and progression.
We are also supporting entrepreneurs through the Start-Up Loans scheme, which offers businesses 12 months of free mentoring. Of all loans issued up to December 2021, 20% went to Asian people, Black people, or people from other Ethnic Minorities (excluding White minorities). At the end of December 2021, the programme had delivered more than 90,000 loans, providing more than £819m of funding to entrepreneurs.
In March 2021, the Parker Review published statistics showing that significant progress has been made on improving ethnic diversity of UK boards, with 89 out of 100 FTSE 100 companies reporting they had appointed a director from a minority ethnic group.
The Treasury remains committed to supporting individuals and businesses of all backgrounds to access the finance they need and continues to engage with the private sector and other government departments including BEIS and Cabinet Office on this important issue.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children are not strip-searched without a parent, guardian or appropriate adult present.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police and its use should not be a routine occurrence. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act Codes of Practice govern how the police should deploy this power. If the police judge it operationally necessary, then any strip search conducted on a child must be carried out by officers of the same sex, in private and with an appropriate adult present unless both the child and the appropriate adult agree otherwise and in line with safeguarding procedures.
Nobody should be stopped and searched because of their race or ethnicity and safeguards exist to ensure that this does not happen, including statutory codes of practice, use of body worn video to increase accountability and extensive data collection. It is critical that we maintain public confidence in policing and as part of this we will be looking carefully at strengthening the system of local community scrutiny and the value of body-worn video, because transparency is vital.
The MoJ are supporting a project with the National Police Chief’s Council with the aim of addressing the difference in experience of ethnic minority children and adults in police custody. A wide range of agencies and independent advisors have contributed to this work, which engages a number of police forces across the country and builds on existing initiatives in the workplace, including a dedicated Independent Strip Search Scrutiny Panel (ISSSP) in Norfolk & Suffolk Police.
From December 2022 we will be including more detailed custody data in the annual Police Powers and Procedures statistical bulletin which will include data on whether an appropriate adult was called out for a detained child and the number of strip searches & Intimate searches carried out, broken down by age, gender, ethnicity, and offence type.
Further work is underway for the collection of data during stop & searches on the use of strip search. Currently, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating this incident and it is vital we await their findings. However, we will consider all recommendations made for the Home Office as a result of these investigations very carefully.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to tackle race disproportionality in the use of strip searches on children.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police and its use should not be a routine occurrence. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act Codes of Practice govern how the police should deploy this power. If the police judge it operationally necessary, then any strip search conducted on a child must be carried out by officers of the same sex, in private and with an appropriate adult present unless both the child and the appropriate adult agree otherwise and in line with safeguarding procedures.
Nobody should be stopped and searched because of their race or ethnicity and safeguards exist to ensure that this does not happen, including statutory codes of practice, use of body worn video to increase accountability and extensive data collection. It is critical that we maintain public confidence in policing and as part of this we will be looking carefully at strengthening the system of local community scrutiny and the value of body-worn video, because transparency is vital.
The MoJ are supporting a project with the National Police Chief’s Council with the aim of addressing the difference in experience of ethnic minority children and adults in police custody. A wide range of agencies and independent advisors have contributed to this work, which engages a number of police forces across the country and builds on existing initiatives in the workplace, including a dedicated Independent Strip Search Scrutiny Panel (ISSSP) in Norfolk & Suffolk Police.
From December 2022 we will be including more detailed custody data in the annual Police Powers and Procedures statistical bulletin which will include data on whether an appropriate adult was called out for a detained child and the number of strip searches & Intimate searches carried out, broken down by age, gender, ethnicity, and offence type.
Further work is underway for the collection of data during stop & searches on the use of strip search. Currently, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating this incident and it is vital we await their findings. However, we will consider all recommendations made for the Home Office as a result of these investigations very carefully.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Independent - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review into the search of Child Q, what steps she has taken to help ensure that race and ethnicity do not influence the decision to strip search (a) a child and (b) and adult.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Strip search is one of the most intrusive powers available to the police and its use should not be a routine occurrence. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act Codes of Practice govern how the police should deploy this power. If the police judge it operationally necessary, then any strip search conducted on a child must be carried out by officers of the same sex, in private and with an appropriate adult present unless both the child and the appropriate adult agree otherwise and in line with safeguarding procedures.
Nobody should be stopped and searched because of their race or ethnicity and safeguards exist to ensure that this does not happen, including statutory codes of practice, use of body worn video to increase accountability and extensive data collection. It is critical that we maintain public confidence in policing and as part of this we will be looking carefully at strengthening the system of local community scrutiny and the value of body-worn video, because transparency is vital.
The MoJ are supporting a project with the National Police Chief’s Council with the aim of addressing the difference in experience of ethnic minority children and adults in police custody. A wide range of agencies and independent advisors have contributed to this work, which engages a number of police forces across the country and builds on existing initiatives in the workplace, including a dedicated Independent Strip Search Scrutiny Panel (ISSSP) in Norfolk & Suffolk Police.
From December 2022 we will be including more detailed custody data in the annual Police Powers and Procedures statistical bulletin which will include data on whether an appropriate adult was called out for a detained child and the number of strip searches & Intimate searches carried out, broken down by age, gender, ethnicity, and offence type.
Further work is underway for the collection of data during stop & searches on the use of strip search. Currently, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating this incident and it is vital we await their findings. However, we will consider all recommendations made for the Home Office as a result of these investigations very carefully.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will (a) list the spending programmes his Department devolves for administration to local government in England and other local spending bodies and (b) specify the value for each programme for every year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The table below sets out funding DLUHC core department devolved in 2021-22. Future years funding will be published in the usual way. The Local Government Finance Settlement can be found using this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2021-to-2022.
Programme Name | Value 2021-22 (£m) |
AFFORDABLE HOMES PROGRAMME | 215.0 |
BETTER CARE FUND PROGRAMME SUPPORT | 0.3 |
BICHESTER | 4.6 |
BRENT CROSS | 29.1 |
BROWNFIELD HOUSING FUND | 157.8 |
BROWNFIELD LAND RELEASE FUND | 64.4 |
BUILDING SAFETY REMEDIATION | 393.0 |
CHANGING FUTURES | 16.0 |
CHANGING PLACES | 0.3 |
COASTAL COMMUNITIES FUND | 0.1 |
COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS | 22.5 |
COMMUNITY HOUSING FUND | 6.0 |
COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP FUND - COF | 1.4 |
COVID-19 CLINICALLY & EXTREMELY VULNERABLE | 61.3 |
CUSTOM BUILD LAND DUTY | 0.1 |
DATA IMPROVEMENT SHARE OUTCOME FUND | 4.1 |
DIGITAL PLANNING REFORM | 1.9 |
DISABLED FACILITIES GRANTS (N) | 573.0 |
DOMESTIC ABUSE | 1.8 |
EAST BANK | 51.6 |
EBBSFLEET DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION | 19.0 |
ENGLISH LANGUAGE | 5.2 |
ESTATE REGEN FUND | 14.2 |
FAITH, RACE AND HATE GRANT SCHEME | 0.4 |
FLOOD RECOVERY FRAMEWORK SCHEMES | 3.7 |
FREEPORTS | 3.7 |
FUTURE HIGH STREET FUND | 257.5 |
GETTING BUILDING FUND | 449.9 |
GRT EDUCATION PROGRAMME | 1.0 |
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL PROGRAMME | 1.0 |
HOME OF 2030 | 0.4 |
HOMELESSNESS | 378.8 |
HONG KONG BRITISH NATIONAL OVERSEAS (HKBNOS) WELCOME PROGRAMME | 6.5 |
HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURE FUND (CORE) | 37.9 |
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR COMMONWEALTH GAMES | 17.7 |
INTERFAITH NETWORK FOR THE UK | 0.3 |
LEP CORE FUNDING | 19.1 |
LESSONS FROM AUSCHWITZ UNIVERSITIES | 0.1 |
LEVELLING UP FUND | 103.2 |
LOCAL DIGITAL COLLABORATION | 12.4 |
LOCAL GROWTH INVESTMENT FUNDS | 347.5 |
LOCAL LAND CHARGES | 0.1 |
LOCAL RESILIENCE FORUMS (LRFS) | 8.1 |
MAYORAL CAPACITY FUND | 9.0 |
MIDLANDS ENGINE | 2.5 |
MODERN PLANNING SOFTWARE | 6.8 |
NCTT | 0.3 |
NEAR NEIGHBOURS | 1.0 |
NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING | 7.9 |
NEW DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS | 2.1 |
NEW HOMES BONUS | 622.3 |
NORTHERN POWERHOUSE | 0.5 |
OXFORD-CAMBRIDGE ARC | 1.0 |
OXFORDSHIRE HOUSING | 40.0 |
PARTNERSHIPS FOR PEOPLE AND PLACE | 0.7 |
PFI HOUSING | 138.7 |
PLANNING ADVISORY SERVICE (PAS) | 0.7 |
PLANNING DELIVERY FUND | 5.3 |
PLANNING REFORM | 2.8 |
REDCAR AND CLEVELAND BOROUGH COUNCIL | 3.7 |
REGIONAL CONTROL CENTRES | 4.2 |
REMEMBERING SREBRENICA | 0.3 |
REOPENING HIGH STREETS SAFELY | 26.8 |
RIGHT TO BUY RECEIPTS | 12.3 |
ROUGH SLEEPING | 325.4 |
ROUGH SLEEPING COVID RESPONSE | 40.3 |
SCHOOLS LINKING | 0.2 |
SECRETARIAT FOR THE INDEPENDENT ANTISEMITISM ADVISER | 0.1 |
SHIELDING SUPPORT | 40.8 |
SSI STEELWORKS | 25.7 |
STDC - TEESWORKS WORKS | 11.1 |
STRENGTHENING FAITH INSTITUTIONS | 0.5 |
STRONGER TOWNS CAPACITY FUNDING | 162.4 |
SUPPORTED HOUSING OVERSIGHT PILOTS | 2.4 |
SUPPORTING FAMILIES | 163.7 |
TENANT FEES ACT 2019 | 0.8 |
THAMES ESTUARY | 1.5 |
TOWNS FUND | 0.5 |
TRANSPORT FOR EBBSFLEET | 1.7 |
UK COMMUNITY RENEWAL FUND | 122.5 |
VOLUNTARY AND COMMUNITY SECTOR FUNDING FOR ROUGH SLEEPING AND HOMELESSNESS | 2.7 |
VOLUNTARY RIGHT TO BUY | 1.4 |
WAKING WATCH | 0.4 |
WESTERN GATEWAY CORE FUNDING | 1.0 |
WINDRUSH | 0.7 |
WOMENS AID | 0.3 |
YOUTH HOMELESSNESS | 0.6 |
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Community Safety Trust’s Antisemitic Incidents Report January-June 2021 which reported a 491 per cent rise in antisemitic hate incidents in schools compared to the same period the previous year, what steps his Department is taking to tackle rising levels of antisemitism in schools
Answered by Robin Walker
The government is clear that antisemitism, as with all forms of bullying and hatred, is abhorrent and has no place in our schools.
In response to the reported increase in such incidents during an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in May 2021, the former Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend for South Staffordshire, wrote to schools to remind them of their responsibilities to deal with antisemitic incidents with due seriousness as well as their legal duties regarding political impartiality. On 17 February 2022, the department published further guidance on political impartiality in schools that helps to ensure educational initiatives in schools are not politically biased or one-sided. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools/political-impartiality-in-schools.
The government continues to take action to support schools tackle all forms of bullying, including antisemitism. Our preventing and tackling bullying guidance sets out that schools should develop a consistent approach to monitoring bullying incidents and evaluating the effectiveness of their approaches. It also directs schools to organisations who can provide support with tackling bullying related to race, religion and nationality, as well as sexual harassment and sexual bullying. Between August 2021 and March 2022, the department provided over £1.1 million of funding to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying.
The government has also supported Holocaust education for many years and is fully committed to continuing this support. In recognition of its importance, the Holocaust is the only historic event which is compulsory within the national curriculum for history at key stage 3. Effective teaching about the Holocaust can support pupils to learn about the possible consequences of antisemitism and extremism, to understand how society can prevent the repeat of such a catastrophe. The department provides funding for several programmes to support school pupils’ and teachers’ understanding of the Holocaust.
The department continues to publish information, guidance and support for teachers and school leaders on how to challenge radical views, including racist and discriminatory beliefs, on Educate Against Hate.
Asked by: Joanna Cherry (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which stakeholder groups the NHS England National Advisor for LGBT Health has engaged with in the last six months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Adviser for LGBT Health engages with a wide range of stakeholder groups including Government departments, National Health Service organisations, Royal Colleges, regulators and voluntary and community sector organisations. In the last six months the National Adviser for LGBT Health has engaged with the following organisations:
- The Department of Health and Social Care;
- The Government Equalities Office;
- The Care Quality Commission;
- The General Medical Council;
- The Nursing and Midwifery Council;
- The General Pharmaceutical Council;
- The Royal College of General Practitioners;
- The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology;
- The Royal College of Midwives;
- The Royal College of Nurses;
- The Equality and Human Rights Commission;
- NHS Digital;
- NHSX;
- The UK Health Security Agency;
- The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities;
- Healthwatch;
- Albert Kennedy Trust;
- Opening Doors London;
- National LGB&T Partnership;
- LGBT Consortium;
- LGBT Foundation;
- Metro Charity;
- Stonewall Housing;
- The Proud Trust;
- Stonewall;
- Alike;
- Mermaids;
- Live Through This;
- LGBT Hero;
- Yorkshire Mesmac
- cliniQ;
- Terrence Higgins Trust;
- Gendered Intelligence;
- Leicester LGBT Centre;
- Birmingham LGBT;
- Galop;
- Switchboard;
- London Friend;
- LGBTIQ Outside Project;
- Lancashire LGBT;
- Intersex Equality Rights UK;
- Spectra;
- Intercom Trust;
- LGBT Dorset;
- MindOut;
- ELOP (East London Out Project);
- Parapride;
- Intersex Equality Rights UK;
- National Maternity Voices;
- Beyond Bea;
- Aching Arms;
- LGBT Mummies Tribe;
- Local Maternity Voice Partnership Chairs;
- Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals;
- NHS Youth Forum;
- Womens’ Budget Group;
- Women’s Resource Centre;
- Fair Play for Women;
- Faith Action;
- The Race Equality Foundation; and
- The HOPE Network.