Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Policy paper: “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made on increasing investment in alternative methods.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government is increasing investment in alternative methods through delivery of the Replacing Animals in Science strategy. The strategy was supported by £75 million of funding to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, with multi‑year funding secured through the Spending Review to provide stability for key programmes. UK Research and Innovation has already launched a £20 million funding call for a preclinical translational models hub, and Innovate UK has launched a £2 million Contracts for Innovation competition to support the development of alternative approaches. Further investment will be taken forward through delivery of the strategy and associated programmes.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of free-school meals on children in Ilford South constituency; and whether she has considered trialling Free School Meals to children in secondary schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have announced that free school meals will be extended to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, lifting 100,000 children across England out of poverty and putting £500 per child back in families’ pockets as set out in our Child Poverty Strategy.
Providing over half a million disadvantaged children with a free, nutritious meal each day supports higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes. This expansion ensures funding is targeted where it is most needed, supporting pupils from low-income families.
The department does not routinely assess the impact of free school meals at constituency level, but national evidence shows the positive effect they have on pupils’ attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn.
Free school meals are also available to eligible pupils and all infant pupils, alongside programmes such as the Holiday Activities and Food programme.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Bangladeshi counterparts on the protection of religious freedoms for (a) Hindus, (b) Christians, (c) Buddhists, (d) Sikhs and (e) other minority communities.
Answered by Seema Malhotra
The UK condemns all acts of violence targeting religious or ethnic minorities and continues to emphasise the importance of protecting the rights of all communities to the Bangladesh Government.
Following the February 2026 elections, I visited Bangladesh and met Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, where the Government of Bangladesh reaffirmed its commitment to inclusion. We welcome the Government's early steps to protect and reassure all communities, and its stated intention to build a Bangladesh that serves every citizen.
Our commitment to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is reflected in our £27 million Bangladesh Collaborative, Accountable and Peaceful Politics programme (2023-2028), which aims to protect civic space, foster inclusive dialogue, and address tensions that can lead to violence.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help protect (a) Christians and (b) other religious minorities from discrimination and violence in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to my statement on GOV.UK marking the one‑year anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime, available at the link below, which set out the UK's support for the efforts of the new Syrian government to build a more stable, inclusive, and representative country. I further emphasised the importance of that inclusive political transition during President Al Sharaa's visit to the UK on 31 March, and in my written statement to the House on 29 April (HWCS1552).
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/minister-falconer-article-on-syria-anniversary-december-2025
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department is providing to help increase levels of participation in grassroots sport.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government believes in the power of grassroots sport. Everyone should have access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
We provide the majority of support through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding to support grassroots participation.
Sport England invests in over 90 place partnerships to promote sport and physical activity opportunities in the communities that need it most.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the nutritional quality of grab and go style foods in schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The School Food Standards set the mandatory nutritional framework for food and drink provided in state‑funded schools in England. They are designed to ensure children receive the energy and nutrients they need during the school day, while giving schools flexibility to design menus that work for their pupils and local circumstances.
Since the School Food Standards were introduced in 2014, the dietary recommendations on free sugar, fibre and sweeteners have changed and the proportion of children living with obesity is high. The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever, so we are consulting on proposed updates to the School Food Standards in England to ensure that all food served at school, including ‘grab and go’ options, better reflects current nutritional guidance and support children’s health, wellbeing and learning. The consultation is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/school-food-standards-updating-the-legislative-framework.
As part of our proposals, we are proposing that ‘grab and go’ options must also contain or be accompanied by vegetables or salad.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate his Department has made of the number of Sikhs in the UK using (a) ethnicity and (b) religion data.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Gentleman's Parliamentary Question of 3rd June is attached.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department can identify COVID-19 mortality rates, hospitalisation rates and infection rates among Sikhs.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Gentleman's Parliamentary Question's of 3rd June is attached.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department holds data on how many Sikhs died during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Gentleman's Parliamentary Question's of 3rd June is attached.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment has her Department made of the implications for her policies of Sikhs not being recognised as a distinct ethnic group within official ethnicity classifications.
Answered by Nesil Caliskan
The GSS ethnicity harmonised standard helps to make statistics and data more comparable, consistent and coherent. MHCLG collects data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics.
I recognise that, for some Sikhs, ethnicity recognition is an important issue. Whilst the current harmonised standard for ethnicity does not include “Sikh” as a specific ethnic group response option, datasets collected using this standard may still capture Sikh ethnicity through write-in responses within the ethnic group question.
A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the Government Statistical Service Harmonisation team.
A public consultation between October 2025 and February 2026 sought views from a wide range of users, including Government Departments and public bodies, to understand user needs for ethnic group data. MHCLG officials have engaged with the GSS harmonisation team over the course of the review to understand the impact of ethnicity data collection on government policy.
ONS will be providing a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026.