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Written Question
Females: Antisemitism
Thursday 24th January 2019

Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to tackle antisemitism against women.

Answered by Heather Wheeler

The Government was pleased to support the Sara Conference in November 2018. The conference focused specifically on the intersectionality between antisemitism and sexism, looking particularly at the experience of Jewish women in public life. The conference brought together an excellent cross-section of policy makers, academics, and other experts, and set the agenda for what key organisations in this regard, such as the Antisemitism Policy Trust, will do going forward. The Government will continue to work closely with the Antisemitism Policy Trust, to understand this specific threat and to support their work.


Written Question
Females: Judaism
Thursday 24th January 2019

Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Sara conference of 26 November 2018, what plans his Department has to encourage more Jewish women to participate in public life.

Answered by Heather Wheeler

The Government was pleased to support the Sara Conference in November 2018. It was an important platform for policy-makers, public figures, and experts to discuss the intersectionality between antisemitism and sexism, and an important start to understanding how antisemitic abuse targeted at women can be tackled. The conference set the future direction for organisations dedicated to this issue, such as the Antisemitism Policy Trust. We will continue to work closely with the Antisemitism Policy Trust as they develop this important work and encourage women to enter public life.


Written Question
Public Lavatories: Disability
Monday 21st January 2019

Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there was a tendering process for the £70,000 contract awarded to develop an online map to help carers and disabled people find Changing Places toilets.

Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union

The Department was approached jointly by Mencap and the British Toilet Association Ltd to provide support for a proposal to develop an online map to help carers and disadvantaged people find Changing Places toilets. This was done by means of a grant payment of £74,300 made under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006.


Written Question
Public Lavatories: Disability
Monday 21st January 2019

Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, who was awarded the £70,000 contract to develop an online map to help carers and disabled people find Changing Places toilets.

Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union

The Department was approached jointly by Mencap and the British Toilet Association Ltd to provide support for a proposal to develop an online map to help carers and disadvantaged people find Changing Places toilets. This was done by means of a grant payment of £74,300 made under Section 70 of the Charities Act 2006.


Written Question
Social Rented Housing: Mental Illness
Friday 12th October 2018

Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps is he taking to ensure that the social housing system supports people with mental health problems.

Answered by Heather Wheeler

I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 176245 on 11 October 2018.


Written Question
Social Media: Bullying
Thursday 6th September 2018

Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with representatives of social media providers on tackling online (a) misogynistic, (b) racist, (c) homophobic and transphobic abuse.

Answered by Heather Wheeler

Since 2011 the cross-government hate crime programme has included work with Internet Service Providers and key stakeholders to deal with online abuse including misogynistic, racist, homophobic and transphobic abuse.

This work has largely been led by the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for combating Anti-Semitism, and latterly by the EU High Level Group on internet abuse. They have worked with key internet service providers including Facebook, Google, Twitter and Microsoft on a code to take down illegal content within 24 hours.


Written Question
Department for Communities and Local Government: Equality
Monday 9th January 2017

Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who the diversity champion is on his departmental board.

Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)

Christine Hewitt, Director, People, Capability and Change is the Board Diversity Champion in the Department for Communities and Local Government. We also have senior Diversity Champions for BAME, Race, Disability, Women, LGBT and Social Mobility as well as our Departmental Diversity Champion who work closely with our Networks in embedding Diversity and Inclusion messages and in promoting opportunities. Our Permanent Secretary is the Gender Champion for the Civil Service and all of our Champions and Networks are aligned with Civil Service governance, Networks and wider communities.

The Government takes its commitments to Diversity and Inclusion very seriously, and as a result the action in the Talent Action Plan 2015 has been completed and is referenced in the 2016 Talent Action Plan “progress to date” section. All departments, including new departments Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) and Department for International Trade (DIT) have nominated overall diversity champions. They are responsible for providing an overall insight for all protected characteristics.


Written Question
Local Government Finance: Kirklees
Tuesday 26th January 2016

Asked by: Paula Sherriff (Labour - Dewsbury)

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the unallocated financial reserves level was of Kirklees Council in the most recent local authority data outtrun held by his Department.

Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)

The most recent local authority data outturn held by the Department for Communities and Local Government show the position as at 31 March 2015; Kirklees Council reported unallocated reserves of £38.0 million (this excludes other reserve balances for schools, public health and other earmarked reserves).

The usual measure of reserves used is non-ringfenced revenue reserves, which comprises the sum of unallocated and other earmarked reserves: in Kirklees case £114.2 million.

Full details can be found on the Department’s webpage at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing-england-2014-to-2015-individual-local-authority-data-outturn