The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter. Any Jhatka slaughter would need to comply with the requirements to protect animal welfare set out in legislation, as well as meat hygiene requirements.

Defra and Food Standards Agency officials have met with the Jhatka Council to discuss their proposals. The Council has since set out their submission in more detail. Officials are carefully considering the proposals and will keep the Council informed of progress.

Everyone should have the opportunity to play sport and enjoy the benefits of being physically active. The Government is committed to tackling the barriers and inequalities that underrepresented groups, including people from the Sikh community, can face when participating in mainstream sport.

We will continue to work with UK sports councils to support the Moving to Inclusion Framework which provides guidance and best practice to help sports organisations create more inclusive environments and drive meaningful change across leadership, workforce and participation in sport.

British Sikhs are an integral part of this country, and this Government refuses to allow intolerance to impact the lives of any people of faith. We are committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion – including the wearing of the Sikh articles of faith – and we do not tolerate anti-Sikh hatred or discrimination in any form.

Earlier this year, we committed in Protecting What Matters to boost faith and belief literacy. This will include gauging our current levels of faith and belief literacy in government identifying ways to upskill, and developing an approach that improves the quality and inclusivity of policy making. We will also consider how to strengthen faith and belief literacy across society as a whole.

The government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion. We will not tolerate anti-Sikh hatred in any form and will ensure hate crimes are prosecuted with the full force of the law.

We are providing record protective security funding for faith communities to bolster security at places of worship, faith schools and community centres through the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme. This comes alongside the Faith Security Training Scheme, ensuring all faith leaders and volunteers, including within Sikh communities, are strengthening their security awareness and preparedness to respond to concerns.

We also provide funding to support True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal that lets victims report incidents safely without visiting a police station. We welcome its work with the Sikh Guard and Rakka initiatives to encourage reporting in Sikh communities and help address concerns about the lack of a bespoke reporting and support service for Sikhs experiencing hate crime.

Headteachers have my full support in ensuring schools are safe. Schools are advised by the department that decisions on uniform need to consider their individual circumstances, taking into account both religious freedom and pupil safety.

It should be possible for most religious requirements to be met within a uniform policy and many schools have arrangements in place to allow the wearing of kirpans alongside sensible safeguards, for example limiting their size and requiring them to be sheathed and further enclosed in a securely fastened cushioned pouch.

The department’s advice for schools on developing school uniform policies is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform/school-uniforms. The government keeps all its guidance under regular review.

The Government carefully considered the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ report on transnational repression (TNR) and responded formally on 30 October 2025.

The Government’s approach to TNR is designed to capture the full range of behaviours and victims, ensuring flexibility in responding to the threat and avoiding the risk of stigmatising communities. The Government agrees that the approach to TNR must remain responsive to the evolving nature of the threat and that it keeps this under regular review, informed by operational insights and ongoing engagement with civil society organisations and trusted networks.

GOV.UK guidance has recently been updated, alongside guidance issued by the National Security Protective Authority, providing practical advice for individuals who believe they may be at risk, including steps to help keep them safe both physically and online.

The Department has not identified employment, earnings or occupational outcomes for Sikhs as a distinct group.

A range of information on Universal Credit claimants, including claimant characteristics, is published as part of the Department’s official statistics. The latest release is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-quarterly-statistics-29-april-2013-to-12-february-2026. Additional data can be accessed through the Department’s Stat-Xplore service, which allows users to explore benefit statistics by a variety of claimant characteristics where held: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

This Government recognises the valuable contribution that Sikh communities make to this country and is committed to bringing down barriers to opportunity for all.

The Government Statistical Service (GSS) ethnicity harmonised standard helps to make statistics and data more comparable, consistent and coherent. The current ethnicity harmonised standard does not recommend collecting data on Sikhs as a distinct ethnic group.

A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the GSS Harmonisation team. As part of this review, a consultation on user needs for additional response options in a future ethnicity standard ran from 28 October 2025 to 4 February 2026.

In total, the consultation received 1,433 responses, 113 of which were from organisations, including four UK government departments. The GSS will publish a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026. This report will include all formal responses to the consultation, and the names of the organisations that responded. The GSS has published its evaluation criteria for additional response options in the new harmonised standard.

This Government recognises the valuable contribution that Sikh communities make to this country and is committed to bringing down barriers to opportunity for all.

The Government Statistical Service (GSS) ethnicity harmonised standard helps to make statistics and data more comparable, consistent and coherent. The current ethnicity harmonised standard does not recommend collecting data on Sikhs as a distinct ethnic group.

A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the GSS Harmonisation team. As part of this review, a consultation on user needs for additional response options in a future ethnicity standard ran from 28 October 2025 to 4 February 2026.

In total, the consultation received 1,433 responses, 113 of which were from organisations, including four UK government departments. The GSS will publish a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026. This report will include all formal responses to the consultation, and the names of the organisations that responded. The GSS has published its evaluation criteria for additional response options in the new harmonised standard.

This Government recognises the valuable contribution that Sikh communities make to this country and is committed to bringing down barriers to opportunity for all.

The Government Statistical Service (GSS) ethnicity harmonised standard helps to make statistics and data more comparable, consistent and coherent. The current ethnicity harmonised standard does not recommend collecting data on Sikhs as a distinct ethnic group.

A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the GSS Harmonisation team. As part of this review, a consultation on user needs for additional response options in a future ethnicity standard ran from 28 October 2025 to 4 February 2026.

In total, the consultation received 1,433 responses, 113 of which were from organisations, including four UK government departments. The GSS will publish a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026. This report will include all formal responses to the consultation, and the names of the organisations that responded. The GSS has published its evaluation criteria for additional response options in the new harmonised standard.

The department does not identify educational attainment outcomes for Sikhs as a distinct group in its measurements of outcomes across key stages. This is because the department does not collect data and report on religion as a pupil characteristic in the way that it does for other characteristics such as ethnicity or sex.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. These data are reported annually and shared with the department and include information on student outcomes by religion.

The Office for Students, the independent regulator of HE in England, annually report on student outcomes including religion in their ‘Outcomes data dashboard’, which can be found here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/student-characteristics-data/outcomes-data-dashboard/.

Protecting the right of all faith communities to worship in peace and without fear is fundamental. The Government works closely with the police and other partners to review threats and strengthen protections for faith communities against hate crime, terrorism and wider security threats.

In 2026/27, the Government has made available £5m for the Places of Worship Protective Security Scheme. This scheme provides funding for physical security measures – such as CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing – to places of worship and associated faith community centres of all faiths (except Jewish and Muslim) in England and Wales that are particularly vulnerable to religiously or racially motivated hate crime. This includes Sikh gurdwaras and associated community centres.

The Home Office’s Faith Security Training scheme also provides free training to all faith communities which is designed to help places of worship, including gurdwaras, to strengthen their security awareness and preparedness.

The Treasury carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing protected characteristics, including religion, in line with both its legal obligations and its commitment to fairness. The department uses the best available evidence to assess equalities impacts in each case.

The Government Statistical Service is undertaking an ongoing review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data used across government. This work has included a now closed public consultation. The aim is to ensure that data collection is robust, consistent and reflects user and community needs.

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.

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.