Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of hate crime around places of worship.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.
In 2025/26, up to £50.9 million is available to protect faith communities and places of worship, including £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, and £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques scheme and for security at Muslim faith schools.
As part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to safeguarding religious freedom and community safety, we are also introducing a new measure within the Crime and Policing Bill that strengthens police powers around all places of worship.
Further to their existing powers, this measure will enable the police to place conditions on protests near places of worship, preventing disruptive tactics and ensuring worshippers can practise their faith peacefully.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department uses for allocating protective security funds to different religious groups under the places of worship protective security fund; and whether the number of reported religiously motivated hate crimes is a factor in that decision-making process.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Funding allocations for the Home Office's protective security schemes for faith communities are informed by threat and risk. We draw on a range of information, such as data on religiously motivated hate crime and assessments from policing and intelligence partners on wider security threats, to ensure that funding allocations remain proportionate and responsive to the needs of different communities.
Funding allocations have previously been increased in response to specific incidents and emerging threats, and the Home Office continuously keeps these under review to ensure that support is directed where it is most needed.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the number of hate crime incidences recorded in (a) the Barking constituency and (b) London in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes official statistics on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales at the Police Force Area level.
Data for the Metropolitan and City of London Police forces, for the year ending March 2024, can be found in Open Data Tables here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help keep (a) mosques and (b) muslim faith schools secure.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.
The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides protective security measures (such as security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing) to mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. Protective security measures are also available to Muslim faith schools. Up to £29.4 million per year is being made available for this work from 2024/25 to 2027/28.
Work is also underway to develop a new Faith Security Training scheme to raise awareness amongst faith communities of how to improve their safety and security, and to help them prepare to mitigate any threats they may face. We are in the process of competitively tendering for a supplier to deliver this scheme and further details will be shared once the procurement process is complete.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of protective security schemes for religious places of worship.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.
The Home Office continuously reviews the effectiveness and proportionality of its protective security schemes for faith communities through evaluating information provided by policing and intelligence partners on threat and risk, monitoring data on uptake of the schemes, and reviewing feedback from faith communities and other stakeholders.
Furthermore, protective security measures are provided to places of worship and other faith community sites following a thorough risk assessment process that takes into account the security requirements of individual sites and determines the most effective measures to implement. Regular reviews of these requirements are then undertaken for sites that receive ongoing security.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to support a political solution in Cyprus .
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is fully committed to supporting ongoing UN efforts to reach a Cyprus Settlement. I represented the UK at the informal talks in Geneva in March chaired by the UN Secretary General, where I encouraged all sides to engage constructively towards a Settlement. I welcome the outcomes of the Geneva meeting, notably the Secretary General's appointment of a Personal Envoy on Cyprus and the agreement to six initiatives to build trust between the two communities. Ahead of the New York meeting, I am continuing to encourage all sides to engage constructively. I am in regular contact with the Republic of Cyprus' Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos. I also both met Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and spoke to opposition leader Tufan Erhürman on 25 June. On 1 July, I met the Secretary General's Personal Envoy, María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar, and we discussed how the UK can best support her efforts to bring progress towards a Settlement. The UK also continues to contribute to peace and stability in Cyprus through our deployment of military personnel to the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of lifting the trade embargo on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In accordance with the rest of the international community, with the sole exception of Turkey, the UK does not recognise the self-declared 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' as an independent state. Several UN Security Council Resolutions, other multilateral agreements and domestic and international court rulings limit links between the UK and the north. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has not made a formal assessment of the merits of lifting the trade embargo. However, within the constraints outlined above, we support measures to reduce the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community and, in the interests of working towards a just and lasting Settlement, to promote intercommunal contact. Increasing intra-island trade is an important part of such efforts and we urge both sides to continue to work to remove obstacles to it. FCDO officials have previously facilitated discussions between the Department for Business and Trade and the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce about the onwards export to the UK of products crossing the Green Line.
I recently met with the Turkish Cypriot leader to discuss the next round of talks at the United Nations later this month. I also met a range of business and civil society representatives from Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities on my visit to Cyprus.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to increase maximum licensing fees for Track Betting Premises to local authorities.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The fees that licensing authorities collect for premises licence applications and annual renewals are used to cover administration and enforcement costs. In England and Wales, local authorities can set their own licensing fees for gambling premises, including track betting premises, up to a statutory maximum. In Scotland, licensing fees are set at a flat rate by Scottish Ministers.
The 2023 gambling white paper proposed increasing the cap on licensing authority premises fees in England and Wales. We are considering the best available evidence from a wide range of sources to make decisions on key measures from the gambling white paper.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of PE provision in the national curriculum.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Barking, to the answer of 28 March to Question 40068.
Asked by: Nesil Caliskan (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on confirming the site for the planned Photographic Reconnaissance Unit Memorial.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Royal Parks wrote to DCMS on 11 April 2025 regarding the site for the planned Photographic Reconnaissance Unit memorial. Officials from DCMS have since been in discussion with The Royal Parks regarding the proposed site, which is under The Royal Parks’ management.