Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the proportion of pupils identifying as LGBTQ+ who have been bullied in the last 12 months.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department has not made a specific assessment of the potential impact of schools on the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people, but the department is aware that bullying in school can have a profound effect on a child’s mental health and collect regular information.
To support schools, the department is providing over £3 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate related bullying and homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic based bullying.
The department is taking actions to tackle bullying as part of the commitment to ensuring schools are safe, supportive, inclusive environments where all pupils feel they belong. The department’s programme of senior mental health lead training is further supporting schools to promote the mental health and wellbeing of all pupils through effective whole-school approaches. This approach should include creating an environment that promotes respect and values diversity, having robust processes for identifying individuals or groups of pupils in need of further support, and ensuring all staff can recognise and understand how to respond to mental health concerns. The department has committed to offer all schools and colleges funding to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. Over 14,000 settings, including more than 7 in 10 state secondary schools, have taken up the offer so far.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of schools on the mental health of young people identifying as LGBTQ+.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department has not made a specific assessment of the potential impact of schools on the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people, but the department is aware that bullying in school can have a profound effect on a child’s mental health and collect regular information.
To support schools, the department is providing over £3 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate related bullying and homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic based bullying.
The department is taking actions to tackle bullying as part of the commitment to ensuring schools are safe, supportive, inclusive environments where all pupils feel they belong. The department’s programme of senior mental health lead training is further supporting schools to promote the mental health and wellbeing of all pupils through effective whole-school approaches. This approach should include creating an environment that promotes respect and values diversity, having robust processes for identifying individuals or groups of pupils in need of further support, and ensuring all staff can recognise and understand how to respond to mental health concerns. The department has committed to offer all schools and colleges funding to train a senior mental health lead by 2025. Over 14,000 settings, including more than 7 in 10 state secondary schools, have taken up the offer so far.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of outsourcing on the quality of service provision.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the written statement made on 18 December 2023 on the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement (HCWS148). We are seeking views on proposals for the 2024-25 Settlement via a consultation which closes on 15 January.
We will consider all responses before publishing a final settlement early this year. To assess the amount of funding required for local government ahead of fiscal events, we estimate the additional resource required to fund the expenditure needs of local authorities, using a range of forecasts and indices to estimate demographic and unit cost pressures facing local government.
Councils are independent, democratic bodies who are best placed to understand what is needed to deliver local priorities and are accountable to local people.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding levels of local public services.
Answered by Simon Hoare - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer the Hon Member to the written statement made on 18 December 2023 on the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement (HCWS148). We are seeking views on proposals for the 2024-25 Settlement via a consultation which closes on 15 January.
We will consider all responses before publishing a final settlement early this year. To assess the amount of funding required for local government ahead of fiscal events, we estimate the additional resource required to fund the expenditure needs of local authorities, using a range of forecasts and indices to estimate demographic and unit cost pressures facing local government.
Councils are independent, democratic bodies who are best placed to understand what is needed to deliver local priorities and are accountable to local people.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect the human rights of women in Pakistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Protecting women's rights is central to the UK Government's human rights engagement in Pakistan. We continue to urge the government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people in Pakistan, particularly the most vulnerable, including women, minorities and children, as laid down in the Constitution of Pakistan and in accordance with international standards. In parallel, UK programme funds are helping to address gender based violence by raising awareness of early and forced marriages and making digital spaces safer for women. The British High Commission in Islamabad will continue to support civil society and NGOs in lobbying the Government of Pakistan to honour in practice its international commitments.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterpart in Pakistan on the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK does not comment or interfere with judicial cases in Pakistan, they are a matter for Pakistan's legal system. The UK has a close and longstanding relationship with Pakistan. We support democratic principles and adherence to the rule of law. In a letter to caretaker Foreign Minister Jilani on 21 August, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, impressed the need for Pakistan's citizens to be able to exercise their democratic rights and participate in peaceful, inclusive, credible elections.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ban electronic shock collars for pets.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (England) Regulations will make it an offence to attach an electronic shock collar to a cat or dog, or to be in possession of a remote-control device capable of activating such a collar when attached to a cat or dog. The regulations have been considered in the House of Lords and will be considered by the House of Commons in due course. Parliamentary business will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting VAT on mooring licenses for people who live on houseboats capable of self-propulsion.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited by both legal and fiscal considerations. This request should be viewed in the context of over £50 billion of requests for relief from VAT received since the EU referendum.
The Government keeps all taxes under review, as part of the tax policy making cycle and Budget process.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) providing guidance on best practice and (b) setting standards for local authority tenancy fraud investigations.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department does not hold information on local authority investigations into tenancy fraud cases involving domestic abuse. Training on this matter is the responsibility of local authorities.
Government takes social housing fraud seriously and introduced the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 to give social landlords powers to tackle social housing fraud and increased the deterrent to tenants considering cheating the system. Between 2011 and 2015, we provided £19 million of funding to help local authorities, working in partnership with other social landlords, to tackle social housing fraud; and provided funding to support the Chartered Institute of Housing to provide hands-on practical advice to landlords on which policies and procedures work best. We have no plans currently to commission any updated guidance.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department provides training to local authority legal teams on handling cases involving domestic abuse.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department does not hold information on local authority investigations into tenancy fraud cases involving domestic abuse. Training on this matter is the responsibility of local authorities.
Government takes social housing fraud seriously and introduced the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 to give social landlords powers to tackle social housing fraud and increased the deterrent to tenants considering cheating the system. Between 2011 and 2015, we provided £19 million of funding to help local authorities, working in partnership with other social landlords, to tackle social housing fraud; and provided funding to support the Chartered Institute of Housing to provide hands-on practical advice to landlords on which policies and procedures work best. We have no plans currently to commission any updated guidance.