Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the prevalence of discrimination towards young ethnic minorities seeking employment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Employment statistics show the ethnic minority employment rate at 68%, up 9.2 percentage points on the same quarter in 2010, with 5.4m people from an ethnic minority background in employment which is a record high.
The Department supports people to move into employment by providing access to a range of mainstream services and bespoke programmes that are designed to be flexible to individual needs. We also take targeted action where there is a high ethnic minority employment gap and work with partners, employers, and specific sectors to improve opportunities for all.
The Youth Offer provides individually tailored Work Coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are claiming Universal Credit. This support includes the Youth Employment Programme, Youth Employability Coaches for young people with additional barriers to finding work, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain. This was expanded in 2023 to include additional young people on Universal Credit not currently searching for work, including young parents and carers.
In April 2023, the Government's Equality Hub published updated guidance for employers on how to use the positive action provisions in the Equality Act 2010. This is to help people who share a particular protected characteristic overcome barriers and to level the playing field.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on evacuation routes for Palestinians displaced from eastern Rafah.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
As I told the House last week, Israel must facilitate immediate, uninterrupted humanitarian access in the south, especially the entry of fuel, and ensure the protection of civilians and safe passage for those who wish to leave Rafah.
We have been clear that we would not support a major operation in Rafah unless there is a very clear plan for how to protect people and save lives. We have not seen that plan so, in these circumstances, we would not support a major operation in Rafah.
The Foreign Secretary and I continue to press these points with our Israeli counterparts.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has had discussions with employers on the (a) public reporting of ethnicity pay gaps and (b) inclusive early talent pipelines.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
As part of the government’s ambitious Inclusive Britain action plan, we published comprehensive guidance in April 2023 for employers on how they can measure, report on and address any unfair ethnicity pay gaps within their workforce. We have engaged with employers and representative bodies in both developing and promoting the new guidance.
We have also worked with employers to deliver other relevant actions in Inclusive Britain including:
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, which topics she has approved for sustained monitoring by the National Security Online Information Team.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
NSOIT remit and function is to tackle the greatest national security risks facing the UK from mis and disinformation. It is specifically tasked with looking at threats posed by foreign states, risks to elections and understanding how AI and deepfakes can be used by hostile actors to spread mis and disinformation narratives which are aimed at UK audiences. This remit is kept under regular review.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 1.10 of the Three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, published on 30 March 2023, what steps her Department is taking with NHS England to monitor the provision of access to interpreters for patients in maternity services by NHS trusts.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Integrated care boards and National Health Service providers are responsible for ensuring that translation and interpretation services are in place, as they are better placed to make decisions about how they use their funding based on the needs of their local populations. To support them in this, NHS England has developed a framework agreement with suppliers of translation and interpretation services, whose experience and capability has been robustly tested. The services include face to face spoken language, British sign language, telephone interpretation and translation, document translation, and video translation and interpretation. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.sbs.nhs.uk/services/framework-agreements/interpretation-and-translation-services/
To identify the most effective way to improve interpretation provision across all clinical services, including maternity and neonatal care, NHS England has completed a strategic review during 2023/24. The review considered the breadth and complexity of issues across the patient pathway, and completed an options appraisal of potential interventions. The review will inform how we best help improve interpretation services so that they meet the needs of communities and support equitable access, experience, and outcomes for all, and includes the development of an NHS Framework for Action for Community Language Translation and Interpreting during 2024/25.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason an electronic database has not been created to keep track of the children in hotels used for asylum seekers.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
There are no unaccompanied children in hotels.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support (a) hospice and (b) other end-of-life services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government added palliative care services to the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission, promoting a more consistent national approach, and supporting commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care.
The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life, and their families. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the ICB footprint. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide, and consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.
To support ICBs, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications for both adults and children. NHS England has also commissioned the development of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together relevant, all age local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of both adults and children in their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities.
NHS England has also funded seven strategic clinical networks for palliative and end of life care. These networks support commissioners in the delivery of outstanding clinical and personalised care for people in the last years of life, and reduce local variation.
At a national level, NHS England has confirmed it will renew the Children and Young People’s hospice funding for 2024/25, again allocating £25 million of grant funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. The Government has provided £60 million of additional funding to help deliver the one-off payments to over 27,000 eligible staff employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts by non-NHS organisations, including some hospices.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding support her Department is providing to Integrated Care Boards on the operation of (a) hospices, (b) palliative care and (c) end-of-life services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by core National Health Service staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life, and their families. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services.
The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the integrated care board (ICB) footprint. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide, and consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.
However, since 2020, NHS England has provided hospices with over £350 million to secure and increase NHS capacity, and to support hospital discharge, as part of the COVID-19 response. In addition, since 2021/22, nearly £63 million has been provided to children’s hospices as part of the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. Furthermore, additional investment in children and young people’s palliative and end of life care, including hospices, has also been made through the NHS Long Term Plan’s commitment to match-fund clinical commissioning groups, and subsequently ICBs, totalling over £23 million.
As set out in the Health and Care Act 2022, ICBs are responsible for determining the level of NHS-funded palliative and end of life care locally, including hospice care, and are responsible for ensuring that the services they commission meet the needs of their local population.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to increase opportunities for children and young people to (a) express their views and experiences of and (b) make decisions affecting their living conditions in contingency accommodation.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Asylum seekers have access to health and social care services from the point of arrival in the UK. The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the NHS, local authorities and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the healthcare and support they need.
The Home Office also operates a Safeguarding Hub to support vulnerable individuals in accessing these services. In addition, the Home Office contracts Migrant Help to provide advice and guidance to asylum seekers should they have an issue with their accommodation or support, and for signposting to health and welfare services. Asylum seekers can access Migrant Help 24/7, every day of the year; by a freephone telephone number, via an online chat, or completing an email enquiry form, both of which can be accessed free of charge on the Migrant Help website. Interpreting and translation services are available through Migrant Help when the need arises for asylum seekers to raise any queries or concerns.
Whilst any safeguarding, medical, or other personal circumstances are considered, all asylum accommodation is provided on a ‘no choice basis’.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department is taking to provide support for human rights to (a) people in, (b) aid agencies and (c) human rights organisations working in Eswatini.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK works to promote respect for human rights around the world, including in Eswatini. The British Government supports the Swazi people indirectly through programmes delivered by UN agencies (including UNICEF, UNFPA and WFP), their implementing partners and the Global Fund, as well as through advocacy and engagement with local Human Rights Defenders and state authorities. The British High Commission also provides project support to local NGOs and CSOs working on key human rights issues such as gender-based violence, freedom of expression and the rights of women and girls.