Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Pakistan on the removal of Afghan nationals from Pakistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK Government continues to monitor the return of Afghans from Pakistan, recognising that every country has the sovereign right to manage their borders. The Foreign Secretary met with Pakistan's Caretaker Foreign Minister on 30 November 2023 and received assurances towards the safety of Afghans who are eligible for UK resettlement under the ARAP and ACRS schemes. We are working with the UN Refugee Agency to ensure Pakistan adheres to its international human rights obligations. Since September, we have committed £18.5 million to the International Organisation for Migration in Afghanistan to support undocumented returnees.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help provide reassurances to Sikhs on their (a) safety and (b) security in the context of recent steps taken by the Indian Government.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Hatred towards Sikhs is completely abhorrent and has no place in our society. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat it.
More broadly, we continue to look at tackling all forms of religious hatred. The department is currently seeking the views and perspectives of domestic and international experts in this field to explore how religious hatred is experienced by British communities today. This work will include anti-Sikh hatred
In 2023/24, the Home Office is providing up to £50.9 million to protect faith communities. This includes £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, £29.4 million through the new Protective Security for Mosques scheme and a scheme for Muslim faith schools, and £3.5 million for the places of worship of other (non-Muslim and non-Jewish) faiths.
The Places of Worship Protective Security Funding (PoW) Scheme provides physical protective security measures, such as CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing to places of worship and associated faith community centres of all other (non-Muslim and non-Jewish) faiths that are particularly vulnerable to religiously or racially motivated hate crime in England and Wales.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to reduce the use of diesel generators; and what data her Department holds on the number of mobile phone masts powered by diesel generators.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are committed to fully decarbonising the power system by 2035 but we will not be taking any chances with Britain’s energy supply.
Fossil fuel generation such as diesel is used to provide business continuity for infrastructure in the event of disruption to electricity supplies.
Users of diesel generators are required to obtain environmental permits and meet limits on emissions of air pollutants as set out in the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2016.
The Department does not hold data on the number of mobile phone masts powered by diesel generators. The majority of mobile phone masts draw their power from the National Grid, with a number having a backup diesel generator, and some being permanently powered by diesel generator.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish an equality impact assessment on the draft guidance for schools and colleges on gender questioning children.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department is currently consulting on a draft of Guidance for Schools and Colleges: Gender Questioning Children. The consultation closes on 12 March 2024. The department will publish an equality impact assessment when the final guidance is issued later in the year.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of funding a programme of free home insulation; and if she will have discussions with councils on introducing such a programme nationwide.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government launched the Great British Insulation Scheme in July 2023, supporting the delivery of low-cost insulation measures, and is expected to help some 300,000 households, requiring little or no contribution. This complements the Energy Company Obligation scheme, which has been one of the Government’s key domestic energy policies since it launched in 2013. It is estimated that a combined £5bn will be spent under both schemes, up to March 2026.
The flexible eligibility element of both schemes allows local authorities to set out local eligibility criteria. The Department consistently engages with local authorities to improve uptake and remove barriers.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department received (a) legal and (b) other advice from relevant stakeholders prior to the publication of the updated guidance entitled Public Sector Equality Duty: guidance for public authorities, published on 18 December 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As with all guidance published by the Equality Hub, we engaged with legal advisors and key stakeholders to ensure the Public Sector Equality Duty guidance for public authorities was fit for purpose.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide immediate additional funding to support people who are unable to pay for (a) energy, (b) food and (c) other essential items.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the challenges facing households due to elevated costs of living, so has taken further action at Autumn Statement 2023 to support vulnerable households. From 1 April 2024, the National Living Wage will increase by 9.8% for 2.7 million low paid workers. Local Housing Allowance rates will rise to the 30th percentile of local market rents in April 2024 for 1.6 million households. The Government will also uprate all working age benefits in full by September 2023 CPI of 6.7%, benefitting 5.5 million households in 2024-25.
This brings the total support over 2022-2025 to help households with the high cost of living to £104 billion – an average of £3,700 per UK household.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2023 to Question 200418 on Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry, when he plans to update Parliament on progress in implementing the recommendations in the Report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, HC 720, published in October 2022.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Government is driving forward work to deliver on the recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse including by committing to introduce a new mandatory reporting duty in the Criminal Justice Bill, passing the Online Safety Act, and consulting on changes to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
The Home Secretary will provide a full update to Parliament on progress against all of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse early in the new year.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 reduce waiting times for (a) treatment for and (b) diagnosis of (i) endometriosis, (ii) polycystic ovary syndrome and (iii) other women's health concerns; and what steps she is taking to help ensure young women seeking treatment for these conditions have their concerns taken seriously.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Women’s Health Strategy sets out the government’s plans for boosting the health and wellbeing of women and girls and ensuring they feel listened to and have their concerns taken seriously. We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs which will play a key role in improving access to care. Menstrual problems assessment and treatment for conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are core services in women’s health hubs.
Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are playing an important part in tackling the backlogs of people waiting for diagnostic tests, which includes checks, tests and scans for patients on gynaecological pathways, including those with endometriosis and PCOS. As of December 2023, there are 140 CDCs operational which have delivered over six million additional tests since July 2021.
Additionally, gynaecology is one of six specialties being prioritised through surgical hubs for planned procedures. Surgical hubs focus on providing high-volume low-complexity surgery, such as hysteroscopies for women not suitable for outpatient clinic procedures and laparoscopies for suspected endometriosis. There are currently 94 surgical hubs operational across the National Health Service in England, with 45 of these conducting gynaecological procedures.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking with Ofcom to protect young women and girls from damaging diet and weight-loss adverts on social media.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is responsible for regulating the creative content, media placement and audience targeting of advertising in the UK. The Advertising Codes which it administers contain dedicated rules for adverts relating to weight control or reduction, including prohibiting such adverts from being directed at or containing anything likely to appeal particularly to under-18s or those for whom weight reduction would produce a potentially harmful body weight. The ASA has banned a number of influencer posts promoting prescription-only weight loss injections, and also ran a call for evidence last year on advertising giving rise to potential body image concerns.
The Online Safety Act will require all user-to-user and search services accessed by children to put in place systems and processes designed to prevent children from encountering user-generated content, including advertising, that is harmful to them. Content that promotes, encourages or provides instructions for eating disorders has been designated as a type of ‘priority’ content harmful to children under the Act. The Act also requires providers to put in place age-appropriate protections from any other content, even where this has not been designated as ‘priority’ harmful content, that risks causing significant harm to an appreciable number of children.