Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide a timetable for updating the HM Prisons and Probation Service Strategy for Care-Experienced People; and whether this will include a specific focus on race.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
We are updating our strategy for people with care experience in the criminal justice system, to ensure we are using care-experienced people’s time in the criminal justice system to support them to lead crime-free lives.
This will include a focus on race and its role in shaping the experiences and outcomes of those with care experience in the criminal justice system, and will link to wider departmental efforts to address racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system.
We are aiming to publish this strategy in autumn 2024.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish an updated progress report on implementation of recommendations in David Lammy MP’s Review into the treatment of, and outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic individuals in the Criminal Justice System, published in September 2017.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
This Spring, the Government will update Parliament regarding the work of the Inclusive Britain strategy, as it did in April last year. As we work towards this, we are also considering what further updates may be provided from the Ministry of Justice regarding our work to tackle racial disparities in the Criminal Justice System, including the work we committed to in response to the Lammy Review.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide a timetable for updating the Statutory Guidance on Promoting the Health and Wellbeing of Looked After Children.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government gave a commitment to update the statutory guidance ‘Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children’, and to extend it to care leavers up to age 25, in the ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ strategy for the reform of children’s social care. The update forms part of the wider mission in the strategy “to reduce the disparities in long-term mental and physical health outcomes and improve wellbeing for care-experienced people”. This commitment was reaffirmed in September 2023.
Work is underway to understand how the current guidance is working in practice and where changes are necessary. Timeframes will depend on the scope of changes needed. The Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care will keep relevant stakeholders in the health and children’s social care sectors updated as the work progresses.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase investment in early intervention and prevention as part of children’s social care reform.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has invested billions in local services. This year alone, the total social care grant for local government is over £2 billion. In the ‘Stable Homes Built on Love’ Strategy, the department outlined its plans to build on the strengths of current early help and Child in Need services, through the creation of Family Help.
The department is investing £200 million in Children’s Social Care reforms, including £45 million for the Families First for Children Pathfinder programme, which will test how multi-disciplinary family help teams can improve the support that children and families receive. The pathfinder will inform the next stage of the department’s reform programme which will look to deliver transformation more widely.
The department also announced over £1 billion of funding for programmes to improve early help services, including delivering Family Hubs.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Josh MacAlister The independent review of children’s social care, published on 23 May 2022; and what progress they have made in improving council-run homes in the children’s social care system given the findings of that report.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In February 2023 the department published its consultation and implementation strategy, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. This sets out the department’s plans for a system-wide transformation of children’s social care, and details how the department will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life.
To support local authorities to meet their statutory duty to ensure there is sufficient provision for children in their care, the department has announced £259 million capital funding to maintain capacity and expand provision in both secure and open children’s homes that provide high-quality, safe homes for some of the most vulnerable children and young people across England. The department has allocated a portion of the £259 million capital funding to open children’s homes enabling a total of 69 projects to be delivered, which will create an additional 350 beds across this sector.
The department has also committed to developing a core overarching set of Standards of Care for fostering, children’s homes, and supported accommodation. This will help simplify the regulatory landscape, raise quality, and ensure there are consistent safeguards across different types of settings.
The department will develop a programme to support improvements in the quality of leadership and management in children’s homes, including exploring proposals for a leadership programme to attract and train new talent.
In addition, the department is investing £10 million to develop Regional Care Co-operatives (RCCs) to plan, commission and deliver children’s social care placements. Through operating on a larger scale and developing specialist capabilities, the RCCs will be able to develop a wider range of places to meet children’s needs better.
The department is also making good progress on addressing challenges relating to the retention and recruitment of social workers, which is key to supporting the delivery of the wider children’s social care reforms. This includes introducing an Early Career Framework to better support newly qualified social workers to meet the challenges of child and family social work, increasing the number of social worker apprenticeships, and supporting local authorities with their retention and workload challenges. Alongside ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the department also published a consultation on a set of rules for local authority engagement of agency child and family social workers. The response to this consultation was published on 25 October 2023 and sets out a set of national rules intended to increase workforce quality and sustainability. The department will consult on statutory guidance on the technical detail in Spring 2024. These reforms are in addition to the department’s £50 million annual investment in recruiting, training and developing the workforce.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the impact of section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 on the operation of the UK’s modern slavery provisions (1) in prisons, and (2) across the wider population.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
“The Government assessed the Impact of Section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Bill (now Act) prior to Royal Assent and will continue to assess its impact going forward. The published Impact Assessments for the Nationality and Borders Bill, including the impact of Section 63, can be found here:
Equalities Impact Assessment: Nationality and Borders Bill: Equality Impact Assessment (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Economic Impact Assessment: Impact Assessment (parliament.uk)”
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement by African Faith Leaders on 8 August calling for a reduction of debt across African countries.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government notes the statement by African Faith Leaders and we are working with our G20 partners to ensure swift progress and effective implementation of debt treatments under the Common Framework to deliver a long-term, sustainable approach to dealing with debt vulnerabilities. The Paris Club and the G20 have been clear that private creditors must participate in restructurings on terms at least as favourable as those provided by the official sector.
The UK is also championing greater transparency around sovereign lending and borrowing, which plays an important role in supporting the debt sustainability of developing countries. While adhering to the G20 Operational Guidelines for Sustainable Financing and OECD sustainable lending principles, the UK has also put addressing the nexus between climate and debt at the top of its international agenda through pioneering the use of climate resilient debt clauses (CRDCs).
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide fuel support to those living on licensed boats with no permanent mooring, many of whom are on low incomes or pensioners.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is keen to support these households living on licensed boats with no permanent mooring and to ensure that they can receive the Alternative Fuel Payment via the Alternative Fund where eligible. We are currently working to find an acceptable method for these households to provide proof of eligibility, whilst protecting public funds, so they can claim the Alternative Fuel Payment via the Alternative Fund.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure an (1) adequate, and (2) diverse, supply of food for those of (a) Orthodox Jewish faith, and (b) other faiths, in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We recognise the importance of ensuring that everyone in Northern Ireland is able to observe their chosen faith fully, and without hindrance. This includes those of Orthodox Jewish faith, who rely on free access to kosher meats and groceries.
We have previously been made aware that a supplier decided to stop supplying kosher foods to Northern Ireland. They explained that this was owing to difficulty for them complying with the Official Controls Regulation which applies in Northern Ireland by virtue of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
We worked closely with those concerned to identify alternative options, and an alternative GB supplier of kosher foods was identified.
We are not aware of any similar issues facing those of other faiths in Northern Ireland, but we do know that the Protocol is still causing real problems. It is our preference to resolve these problems through talks with the EU, but in the meantime the Government’s Northern Ireland Protocol Bill will fix the practical problems that the Protocol has created.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Manchester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the outcomes of the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief on 5 to 6 July; and what steps they are taking, if any, to review their strategy on freedom of religion or belief following that Conference.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) hosted by the UK brought together governments, faith and belief leaders and civil society for discussions to address challenges to the enjoyment of the right to FoRB, and had positive outcomes. The Conference gave a platform to those persecuted for their religion or belief. Forty-seven governments, international organisations and other entities pledged action in support of FoRB. Thirty four countries joined the UK in signing up to a set of statements found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/international-ministerial-conference-on-freedom-of-religion-or-belief-2022-conference-statements. The Foreign Secretary outlined FCDO progress in implementing recommendations from the Bishop of Truro's report and noted the breadth of religion and belief groups that suffer from persecution. I [Lord Ahmad] announced new UK funding for support for defenders of FoRB, as well as funding and expertise for countries prepared to make legislative changes to protect FoRB.
Following the Conference, the UK Government remains committed to defending FoRB for all, and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities. Promoting the right to FoRB is one of the UK's longstanding human rights priorities, and as other human rights are, FoRB will continue to be considered in relevant Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office external and internal thematic or country strategies.