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To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response by Baroness Williams of Trafford to Baroness Kennedy of Cradley's oral question on 22 October, what plans they have to establish, as points of contact for minority women who are at risk of exploitation, specific individuals who are familiar with the cultural practices...
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the response by Baroness Williams of Trafford to Baroness Kennedy of Cradley's oral question on 22 October, what plans they have to establish, as points of contact for minority women who are at risk of exploitation, specific individuals who are familiar with the cultural practices...
The Ministry of Justice provides funding to specialist sexual violence services to support victims to cope and, where possible, recover from the impact of crime. On 18 September, we announced an additional £5m to support victims of sexual violence, which commits £32m over three years.
In addition, local Commissioners (be they Police and Crime Commissioners, Local Authorities or health commissioners) will also seek to provide specialist support to victims in their area. To support this, in December 2016 we published the National Statement of Expectations, which sets out a blueprint for local service provision, including how Commissioners can best respond to the needs of minority or marginalised groups.
In 2016/17 MHCLG also provided £300k to Imkaan to build capacity and strengthen specialist BAME organisations, including through training, quality standard accreditation and access to the tools they need to measure their impact.
On 18th September we appointed Nicole Jacobs as the first Designate Domestic Abuse Commissioner, who will raise awareness of domestic abuse, stand up for victims, and drive up consistency in the response to domestic abuse. The Commissioner is required to appoint a specific thematic lead within her office to consider and address the needs of BAME victims.
We are also exploring ways to improve support for BAME victims as part of our work to tackle racial disparity in the Criminal Justice System.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of current police officers are from BAME backgrounds; and what assessment they have made of how familiar police officers are with the cultural practices of the communities they are policing.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of current police officers are from BAME backgrounds; and what assessment they have made of how familiar police officers are with the cultural practices of the communities they are policing.
The Home Office collects and publishes information on the ethnicity of police officers on an annual basis in the ‘Police Workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.
The latest data show that, as at 31 March 2019, there were 8,329 BAME police officers in the 43 forces in England and Wales, representing 6.9% of all officers who stated their ethnicity.
Police professional training standards are set and maintained by the College of Policing which the Government established as the first professional body for the police in 2012.
My Lords, are the Government aware that these courts deprive Muslim women of not only their rights but their Islamic rights? They do not give them the rights that the Koran gives to women: to
independence, to charge for housework and to charge for motherhood. It is high time that someone who is familiar with the Koranic teachings of Islamic rights intervened to prevent this façade of sharia courts imposing absolutely unjust and unlawful demands on women. What will this Government do about that?
My Lords, are the Government aware that these courts deprive Muslim women of not only their rights but their Islamic rights? They do not give them the rights that the Koran gives to women: to
independence, to charge for housework and to charge for motherhood. It is high time that someone who is familiar with the Koranic teachings of Islamic rights intervened to prevent this façade of sharia courts imposing absolutely unjust and unlawful demands on women. What will this Government do about that?
My Lords, we do not recognise sharia courts and we do not recognise sharia law. We recognise the law of England and Wales, and it is that to which we must look for protection of rights and to which individuals must have recourse. Of course, I understand the social inhibitions that exist in parts of the Muslim community in seeking to vindicate their rights. That is why, for example, we introduced anonymity in the context of forced marriage.
My Lords, there are minority communities that import brides from abroad and, in the name of marriage, proceed to rape women who do not know the language or the law, do not know who to go to and certainly cannot go to the kin group around them. Are there any provisions for a specialist group to deal with imported brides?
My Lords, there are minority communities that import brides from abroad and, in the name of marriage, proceed to rape women who do not know the language or the law, do not know who to go to and certainly cannot go to the kin group around them. Are there any provisions for a specialist group to deal with imported brides?
My Lords, a number of support groups are available to deal with the sorts of cases that the noble Baroness has outlined. It is a particularly insidious form of sexual crime and one that is sometimes difficult to identify, partly because of issues of language and partly because of issues of social acceptability in the community in which such a person may find herself. As I said, there are support groups and we encourage their use in that context.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assurance, if any, they have received that medication brought from new sources other than the EU will meet the same standards as present.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assurance, if any, they have received that medication brought from new sources other than the EU will meet the same standards as present.
All human medicines marketed in the United Kingdom must meet stringent requirements for quality, safety and efficacy set out in UK medicines legislation and supporting guidelines. These apply regardless of the source of the medicine.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Government body responsible for the safety and licensing of medicines in the UK, regularly inspect pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in the UK and in third countries.
Regardless of the location of the site of manufacture, the manufacturer must demonstrate to the MHRA that the product is manufactured according to the registered UK licence (marketing authorisation) and to at least the minimum standard detailed in the European Union Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice.
In addition, each batch of medicine manufactured in a third country is tested within the UK on import and the manufacturing document reviewed by the license holders Qualified Person before being certified for release to the market.
All these measures will remain in place if the UK leaves the EU.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of the additional 20,000 police officers announced by the Prime Minister that will be (1) women, and (2) Muslim women.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of the additional 20,000 police officers announced by the Prime Minister that will be (1) women, and (2) Muslim women.
My Lords, are the Government aware that everything that Sudan is doing goes directly against the teaching of Islam? As a retired teacher of Islamic law, I can tell noble Lords that Islam recognises women as independent, both financially and personally, and in terms of the decisions they make for themselves and their children. In fact, women are entitled to payment should they choose to breastfeed their children. What the Sudanese Government are doing goes against every conception that Islam has of women; it is anti-Islamic. They really ought to be discouraged and not given any funds.
My Lords, are the Government aware that everything that Sudan is doing goes directly against the teaching of Islam? As a retired teacher of Islamic law, I can tell noble Lords that Islam recognises women as independent, both financially and personally, and in terms of the decisions they make for themselves and their children. In fact, women are entitled to payment should they choose to breastfeed their children. What the Sudanese Government are doing goes against every conception that Islam has of women; it is anti-Islamic. They really ought to be discouraged and not given any funds.
I am sure that the noble Baroness is referring to the previous regime. In view of the time, I will just say that there is a Koranic verse, “La ’ikraha fi al-din”, which means that there is no compulsion or coercion in faith. That should be understood not just by the new regime and Government in Sudan but by all Islamic Governments around the world.
My Lords, what measures have the Government taken specifically to deal with the needs of minority pupils and minority communities, where young girls and women, in particular, are discriminated against at will? Are there specific measures that would deal with this problem?
My Lords, what measures have the Government taken specifically to deal with the needs of minority pupils and minority communities, where young girls and women, in particular, are discriminated against at will? Are there specific measures that would deal with this problem?
My Lords, all our efforts around social mobility are aimed at helping all those who are not getting a fair crack of the whip. We have 12 opportunity areas operating at the moment and, just to take the case study of Derby, where money is being specifically targeted to help children who are struggling to read or have English as an additional language, we are already seeing improvements at key stages 1 and 2. Things are improving faster in Derby than nationally.
My Lords, would the Government consider home-based working as working so that people working at home are recognised and valorised as workers? That would allow a lot of home-
based textile workers who are employed by their kin to be entitled to the privileges to which other workers are entitled.
My Lords, would the Government consider home-based working as working so that people working at home are recognised and valorised as workers? That would allow a lot of home-
based textile workers who are employed by their kin to be entitled to the privileges to which other workers are entitled.
Home-based working is a very good idea. Certainly organisations see it as beneficial to have some flexibility in the way that their employees work. It is to be encouraged.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the costs in each of the last three years of repatriating to the UK British nationals who are convicted of criminal offences overseas; and whether they intend to pay the same costs for British nationals forced into marriage overseas;...
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the costs in each of the last three years of repatriating to the UK British nationals who are convicted of criminal offences overseas; and whether they intend to pay the same costs for British nationals forced into marriage overseas;...
Costs associated with the deportation/return of British citizens to the UK at the end of a criminal sentence abroad are borne by the country seeking to deport/return them.
Victims of forced marriage who are helped to return to the UK by the Forced Marriage Unit will no longer be asked to take out a loan for their repatriation costs. From now on, no one who is assisted by the Forced Marriage Unit - and would previously have been offered a loan - will have to cover the costs of their repatriation. Where possible, the Government will continue to seek to ensure the costs fall on the perpetrators by means of Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs). The Government has also agreed to ensure that those victims who have outstanding loans will have no further costs fall to them.
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Sheikh, for initiating this debate and would like to express my concern about defining the national approach to Islam as a phobia, whereas objections to other faiths are referred to as anti-Catholicism or anti-Zoroastrianism, or whatever. What is it about...
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Sheikh, for initiating this debate and would like to express my concern about defining the national approach to Islam as a phobia, whereas objections to other faiths are referred to as anti-Catholicism or anti-Zoroastrianism, or whatever. What is it about...
My Lords, what measures are taken for students whose first language is not English and who have difficulty in understanding what is going on in English? A change in the system will mean them having to change the whole process of translation, which is not very easy when you do not have the resources to buy a computer every five minutes.
My Lords, what measures are taken for students whose first language is not English and who have difficulty in understanding what is going on in English? A change in the system will mean them having to change the whole process of translation, which is not very easy when you do not have the resources to buy a computer every five minutes.
The noble Baroness is absolutely right; this boils down to the higher education provider deciding what is suitable for the student. If
there are language difficulties then students may be recommended specific types of equipment, which could include digital voice recorders and printers. We leave that up to the higher education providers to sort out.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their planned domestic abuse legislation will consider and provide for domestic abuse in communities where men assume that abuse is sanctioned by their faith.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their planned domestic abuse legislation will consider and provide for domestic abuse in communities where men assume that abuse is sanctioned by their faith.
The Government is clear that domestic abuse is a crime irrespective of whether that abuse is claimed to be sanctioned by faith.
We will be publishing a response to our public consultation on domestic abuse, together with a draft Domestic Abuse Bill, later this Parliamentary session.
The draft Bill will clearly define the types of behaviours that comprise domestic abuse be they controlling, coercive, threatening or violent and recognise that abuse can encompass psychological, physical, sexual, economic and emotional harms.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the Prevent Strategy within the NHS as a safeguarding measure to protect those with care and support needs.
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement the Prevent Strategy within the NHS as a safeguarding measure to protect those with care and support needs.
The Department is committed to ensuring that the National Health Service fully embeds the Prevent Statutory Duty of 2015 within its safeguarding responsibilities.
Great strides have been taken to embed Prevent within the health sector to date. For example, since the Prevent Duty made training mandatory over 830,000 NHS staff have received Basic Prevent Awareness training and over 470,000 have attended advanced training.
The Department is committed to engaging with relevant professional bodies and ensure that further opportunities to develop bespoke training for health professionals are undertaken.
My Lords—
My Lords—
My Lords, I beg the Minister’s pardon for interrupting her earlier in my misplaced enthusiasm. The change of production from “just in case” to “just in time” means that there is no continuous process. It has been fragmented into home-based production where people are employed “as and when”. This means that they cannot accumulate a background of paying regular contributions to entitle them to any kind of benefits. Is the Minister thinking of a way to deal with the new way of production that now prevails?
My Lords, I beg the Minister’s pardon for interrupting her earlier in my misplaced enthusiasm. The change of production from “just in case” to “just in time” means that there is no continuous process. It has been fragmented into home-based production where people are employed “as and when”. This means that they cannot accumulate a background of paying regular contributions to entitle them to any kind of benefits. Is the Minister thinking of a way to deal with the new way of production that now prevails?
The noble Baroness asks a very pertinent question. There can be a break in national insurance contributions for people who work and then step out of work, or who work from home. A flexible workforce is important to the future economy, but it must not disbenefit people’s pension take when they retire.
My Lords, what specific measures are the Government taking in regard to Muslim women? I declare my interest as the honorary president of Muslim Women’s Network UK. Not only do they have to be protected from violence; they need specific arrangements and specific spaces which they consider clean for praying, as well as protection from the men in their own families. What arrangements are made for them?
My Lords, what specific measures are the Government taking in regard to Muslim women? I declare my interest as the honorary president of Muslim Women’s Network UK. Not only do they have to be protected from violence; they need specific arrangements and specific spaces which they consider clean for praying, as well as protection from the men in their own families. What arrangements are made for them?
The noble Baroness is right about the particular needs of that community, which she has just outlined. It was a group specifically identified in the bids that we have just been honouring in the 63 projects. I will write to her on the specifics of that, but the BME and the Muslim communities were identified as being in particular need in those bids.
I thank the noble Baroness for her remarks. As an Iranian-born Member of your Lordships’ House, I declare a personal interest in this Question. As the Government are aware, all the UN special rapporteurs on human rights have already condemned Iran’s action and asked for the end of the arbitrary detention of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has committed no crime other than wanting to go to see her parents—something that I cannot do because I would end up there. I do not know whether the Government could help me at that point. Would this critical time, when Iran needs all the help it can get from all its allies, perhaps be a good time for the Government to encourage the Iranian Government to release Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as an act of good will and allow her to come back to continue her life in the UK?
I thank the noble Baroness for her remarks. As an Iranian-born Member of your Lordships’ House, I declare a personal interest in this Question. As the Government are aware, all the UN special rapporteurs on human rights have already condemned Iran’s action and asked for the end of the arbitrary detention of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has committed no crime other than wanting to go to see her parents—something that I cannot do because I would end up there. I do not know whether the Government could help me at that point. Would this critical time, when Iran needs all the help it can get from all its allies, perhaps be a good time for the Government to encourage the Iranian Government to release Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as an act of good will and allow her to come back to continue her life in the UK?
I thank the noble Baroness for her question and pay tribute to her particularly detailed knowledge of both Iran and the circumstances of this issue. As she is probably aware, the technical difficulty is that Iranians do not recognise the UK as having any right of access, on the basis that they do not consider dual nationality detainees to be British nationals. Anyone holding Iranian citizenship is considered to be only Iranian, and under international law Iran is not obliged to grant consular access for dual nationals. We are pursuing every avenue that we can in relation to all the dual nationality detainees, including Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and are doing so in the best way possible. We raise all our cases at every level and every opportunity. The Prime Minister raised all our consular cases in a telephone call with President Rouhani on 13 May. Most recently, on 6 July, the Minister for the Middle East raised our cases in a meeting with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr Araghchi. This is a very difficult situation for all our dual nationality detainees. We do the best we can to seek information and ensure that they have access to members of their family—in the case of Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, her parents in Iran—and that their welfare is addressed. I am sure that the noble Baroness’s plea will not be lost.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will ensure that following the change in Foreign Secretary the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will continue to be prioritised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will ensure that following the change in Foreign Secretary the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will continue to be prioritised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
My Lords, we remain deeply concerned for all our dual nationality detainees in Iran, including Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and are doing
everything we can for them, including trying to secure access. We regularly raise all these cases at the highest levels within the Iranian Government and we will continue to do so in a way that we judge is in their best interests. The Foreign Secretary is keen to meet the Ratcliffe family and hopes to do so shortly.
What are the Government specifically doing for minority women who do not come out, whose community is unlikely to report any kind of illness, and who do not have the skills to access what is available?
What are the Government specifically doing for minority women who do not come out, whose community is unlikely to report any kind of illness, and who do not have the skills to access what is available?
I would need to write to the noble Baroness specifically about minority women. I do know that there are specific programmes taking place in towns and cities across the country to support minority groups where there is a high prevalence, and I mentioned the south Asian group, which has increased screening and diagnosis. It has reduced mortality, which has been affected. Clearly, that is something we need to do more of.