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Written Question
Offences against Children: Religion
Wednesday 27th December 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding the national working group on child abuse linked to faith has received from her Department in each year since 2011.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

My hon. Friend, the former Minister for Children and Families, Vicky Ford, met with senior representatives of the national working group on child abuse linked to faith in February 2021. The department has not provided any funding to the national working group.

​Faith-based abuse, or 'child abuse linked to faith or belief' relates to situations in which a child is abused (physically, emotionally, sexually or by neglect) because of a belief that the child is possessed by evil spirits. Any form of child abuse is abhorrent and cannot be justified. The government is determined to protect children from this abuse, as with any other form of abuse. Where there are concerns that any child is at risk of, or has suffered significant harm, these should be reported to the police or to the local authority children’s social care who should take action. This is outlined in the ‘Working together to safeguard children’ statutory guidance.

The government’s ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ strategy, published on 2 February 2023, and backed by £200 million investment, set out plans to reform children’s social care, including a commitment to deliver a decisive, multi-agency child protection system for all children.


Written Question
Offences against Children: Religion
Wednesday 27th December 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when a Minister in her Department last met representatives of the national working group on child abuse linked to faith.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

My hon. Friend, the former Minister for Children and Families, Vicky Ford, met with senior representatives of the national working group on child abuse linked to faith in February 2021. The department has not provided any funding to the national working group.

​Faith-based abuse, or 'child abuse linked to faith or belief' relates to situations in which a child is abused (physically, emotionally, sexually or by neglect) because of a belief that the child is possessed by evil spirits. Any form of child abuse is abhorrent and cannot be justified. The government is determined to protect children from this abuse, as with any other form of abuse. Where there are concerns that any child is at risk of, or has suffered significant harm, these should be reported to the police or to the local authority children’s social care who should take action. This is outlined in the ‘Working together to safeguard children’ statutory guidance.

The government’s ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ strategy, published on 2 February 2023, and backed by £200 million investment, set out plans to reform children’s social care, including a commitment to deliver a decisive, multi-agency child protection system for all children.


Written Question
Children: Abuse
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken with the national working group on Child Abuse Linked to Faith on tackling spiritual and ritualistic abuse.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The National Working Group on Child Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief has been renamed as the National Working Group on Abuse Linked to Accusations of Witchcraft and Spirit Possession. It is independent and the department is invited as an observer.

The government is determined to protect children from this abuse, as from any other form of abuse. Where there are concerns that any child is at risk of, or has suffered significant harm, these should be reported to the police or to local authority children’s social care who should take action to safeguard and promote their welfare, following the actions outlined in the ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ guidance.

In the Children in Need statistics for the year ending 31 March 2023 published in October 2023, faith-based abuse was identified as an assessment factor in 2,140 episodes of need. Episodes of need are when a child is referred to children’s social care services and is assessed as being in need of children’s social care services. It should be noted that not all episodes of need have assessment factors recorded, but this has improved over time. Nonetheless, there can be differences in the recording practices between local authorities. Therefore, this data should be treated with caution and should not be taken to represent the national prevalence of particular issues.

The government’s ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ strategy, published on 2 February 2023, set out plans to reform children’s social care, including a commitment to deliver a decisive, multi-agency child protection system for all children.


Written Question
Children: Abuse
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the trends in the level of reports of spiritual and ritualistic abuse against children since 2017.

Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The National Working Group on Child Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief has been renamed as the National Working Group on Abuse Linked to Accusations of Witchcraft and Spirit Possession. It is independent and the department is invited as an observer.

The government is determined to protect children from this abuse, as from any other form of abuse. Where there are concerns that any child is at risk of, or has suffered significant harm, these should be reported to the police or to local authority children’s social care who should take action to safeguard and promote their welfare, following the actions outlined in the ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ guidance.

In the Children in Need statistics for the year ending 31 March 2023 published in October 2023, faith-based abuse was identified as an assessment factor in 2,140 episodes of need. Episodes of need are when a child is referred to children’s social care services and is assessed as being in need of children’s social care services. It should be noted that not all episodes of need have assessment factors recorded, but this has improved over time. Nonetheless, there can be differences in the recording practices between local authorities. Therefore, this data should be treated with caution and should not be taken to represent the national prevalence of particular issues.

The government’s ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ strategy, published on 2 February 2023, set out plans to reform children’s social care, including a commitment to deliver a decisive, multi-agency child protection system for all children.


Written Question
Department for Education: China
Monday 27th November 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether senior officials from her Department have travelled to China since January 2019.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Yes, senior officials have travelled to China since January 2019.


Written Question
Children: Social Services
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Written Statement of 23 May by the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing on Children's Social Care Update, HCWS792, and to the briefing The Cost of Delaying Reform to Children’s Social Care published on 22 May by Action for Children, Barnardo's, The Children's Society, National Children's Bureau, and NSPCC, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of delays to reform of children’s social care.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

There needs to be a fundamental shift away from crisis intervention and towards earlier intervention, and ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ sets out how the department intends to achieve that. These are complex reforms, with complicated systemic interactions. It is critical that the department takes a test and learn approach and ensures that these models can be rolled out effectively.

Alongside the Implementation Strategy, the department announced funding of £200 million by 2024/25 to address urgent issues facing children and families now, to lay the foundations for whole system reform, and set the national direction for change. This is on top of the £142 million by 2024/25 to take forward reforms to unregulated provision in children’s social care, £160 million as announced in March 2022, over the next three years to deliver our Adoption Strategy. This is also in addition to £259 million over the Spending Review 2021 period to maintain capacity and expand provision in secure and open residential children’s homes, and £230 million over the same period to support young people leaving care.

This is in addition to the £3.85 billion social care grant to local authorities for adults and children’s social care this year.


Written Question
Confucius Institutes
Friday 3rd February 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report by the Henry Jackson Society entitled an Investigation of Chinas Confucius Institutes in the UK, published September 2022, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of that report's findings on the scope of the activities of Confucius Institutes.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

The government continuously assesses threats posed to the UK. As a matter of longstanding policy, we are unable to release information regarding threat assessments, on the grounds of national security.

The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated. Departmental officials will continue to work closely with their counterparts across government to strengthen protective measures.

The National Security Bill currently before Parliament brings together vital new measures to protect our national security. The new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) has now been added to the Bill, which has been created to tackle covert influence in the UK. The scheme is designed to strengthen the integrity of our politics and institutions, and protect the UK from state threats.

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill will ensure that lawful freedom of speech is fully supported in English higher education (HE), regardless of where the challenge comes from. It will require and empower registered HE providers, colleges and students’ unions to push back on freedom of speech related threats from overseas. The Bill will also address concerns about the possible influence of overseas money in English HE. These new measures will help the Office for Students (OfS) understand the possible impact of overseas income on freedom of speech and academic freedom, and monitor any trends and patterns of concern. The Bill will allow the OfS to take appropriate action, including issuing penalties, if there is evidence that an HE provider has breached its freedom of speech duties.

The department continuously strengthens protective measures, and expects universities to do the same. Universities UK, with government support, continues work to increase the understanding and awareness of the threat from interference within the HE sector. A key output of this is the publication of two sets of guidelines and a set of case studies, which can be found at the following links: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/managing-risks-internationalisation, https://www.ukri.org/publications/managing-risks-in-international-research-and-innovation/ and: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/universities-uk-international/insights-and-publications/uuki-insights/case-studies-how-universities-are.

With regards to Confucius Institutes, like all similar bodies they should operate transparently, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and the right due diligence is in place. The government encourages any providers with concerns to contact the government.


Written Question
Confucius Institutes
Friday 3rd February 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help counter potential undue influence of Confucius institutes on universities’ wider relationships with China.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

The government continuously assesses threats posed to the UK. As a matter of longstanding policy, we are unable to release information regarding threat assessments, on the grounds of national security.

The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated. Departmental officials will continue to work closely with their counterparts across government to strengthen protective measures.

The National Security Bill currently before Parliament brings together vital new measures to protect our national security. The new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) has now been added to the Bill, which has been created to tackle covert influence in the UK. The scheme is designed to strengthen the integrity of our politics and institutions, and protect the UK from state threats.

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill will ensure that lawful freedom of speech is fully supported in English higher education (HE), regardless of where the challenge comes from. It will require and empower registered HE providers, colleges and students’ unions to push back on freedom of speech related threats from overseas. The Bill will also address concerns about the possible influence of overseas money in English HE. These new measures will help the Office for Students (OfS) understand the possible impact of overseas income on freedom of speech and academic freedom, and monitor any trends and patterns of concern. The Bill will allow the OfS to take appropriate action, including issuing penalties, if there is evidence that an HE provider has breached its freedom of speech duties.

The department continuously strengthens protective measures, and expects universities to do the same. Universities UK, with government support, continues work to increase the understanding and awareness of the threat from interference within the HE sector. A key output of this is the publication of two sets of guidelines and a set of case studies, which can be found at the following links: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/managing-risks-internationalisation, https://www.ukri.org/publications/managing-risks-in-international-research-and-innovation/ and: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/universities-uk-international/insights-and-publications/uuki-insights/case-studies-how-universities-are.

With regards to Confucius Institutes, like all similar bodies they should operate transparently, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and the right due diligence is in place. The government encourages any providers with concerns to contact the government.


Written Question
Confucius Institutes
Friday 3rd February 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle the threat of Confucius Institutes to democracy and national security.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

The government continuously assesses threats posed to the UK. As a matter of longstanding policy, we are unable to release information regarding threat assessments, on the grounds of national security.

The government is clear that any challenges to our core values, whatever their origin, will not be tolerated. Departmental officials will continue to work closely with their counterparts across government to strengthen protective measures.

The National Security Bill currently before Parliament brings together vital new measures to protect our national security. The new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) has now been added to the Bill, which has been created to tackle covert influence in the UK. The scheme is designed to strengthen the integrity of our politics and institutions, and protect the UK from state threats.

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill will ensure that lawful freedom of speech is fully supported in English higher education (HE), regardless of where the challenge comes from. It will require and empower registered HE providers, colleges and students’ unions to push back on freedom of speech related threats from overseas. The Bill will also address concerns about the possible influence of overseas money in English HE. These new measures will help the Office for Students (OfS) understand the possible impact of overseas income on freedom of speech and academic freedom, and monitor any trends and patterns of concern. The Bill will allow the OfS to take appropriate action, including issuing penalties, if there is evidence that an HE provider has breached its freedom of speech duties.

The department continuously strengthens protective measures, and expects universities to do the same. Universities UK, with government support, continues work to increase the understanding and awareness of the threat from interference within the HE sector. A key output of this is the publication of two sets of guidelines and a set of case studies, which can be found at the following links: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/managing-risks-internationalisation, https://www.ukri.org/publications/managing-risks-in-international-research-and-innovation/ and: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/universities-uk-international/insights-and-publications/uuki-insights/case-studies-how-universities-are.

With regards to Confucius Institutes, like all similar bodies they should operate transparently, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression. Universities have a responsibility to ensure that any partnership with a Confucius Institute is managed appropriately, and the right due diligence is in place. The government encourages any providers with concerns to contact the government.


Written Question
Children's Social Care National Implementation Board
Tuesday 10th January 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representatives from the independent children social care sector will be included on the National Implementation Board for the Social Care Review.

Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero

The National Implementation Board was established to advise, support, and challenge the department on its delivery of children’s social care reform. It is made up of individuals with expertise in leading transformational change and direct experience of the children’s social care system. Its membership can be found online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-social-care-national-implementation-board/list-of-members-childrens-social-care-national-implementation-board. The Board does not include any members from the independent care sector.

Since publication of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, officials have engaged with stakeholders across the Children’s Social Care sector to deliver the ambitious and detailed Implementation Strategy that is needed. As part of this engagement, the Children’s Homes Association meets with officials on a fortnightly basis and has representation on an Expert Advisory Group, which was established to look at Standards of Care. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will also be hosting a roundtable with children’s homes providers in early 2023.

The department is committed to engaging widely with those with care experience and all interested stakeholders, to help us drive the right change and scale up good practice across the country.  There will be other avenues through which people can engage with the reform programme, including consultations and a range of advisory groups. The department will share information on this in early 2023.