Every parliamentary written question tabled by Claire Coutinho this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–12 of 12 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Communities and Local Government, if any i) Government Department, ii) arms-length body, iii) public body, or iv) educational institution will be instructed to adopt the new definition of anti-Muslim hostility.
Government has adopted a non-statutory definition of anti-Muslim hostility. We encourage organisations across sectors to adopt the definition and use it in ways they consider to be useful and lawful.
Communities and Local Government, whether (a) his Department and (b) the arms length bodies sponsored by his Department are compliant with the Supreme Court ruling in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025].
We have set out our expectation that all duty bearers, including Departments and arm’s-length bodies, follow the law as clarified by the Supreme Court ruling and seek specialist legal advice where necessary. The Prime Minister has underlined this recently. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has submitted a draft Code of Practice on services, public functions and associations to Ministers, and we are reviewing it with the care it deserves. This will provide further guidance to duty bearers.
Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the inaccessibility of land owned by travellers when local authorities carry out statutory counting of caravans on traveller sites; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of inaccessible land on the reliability of the figures published in his Department’s Traveller Count statistics.
My Department recognises that access to traveller sites may not always be possible. This fact is reflected in the guidance provided to local planning authorities when carrying out the Traveller Caravan Count, which advises that such sites should still be included in the submitted figures, and an estimated count included in the total(s). Local planning authorities are required to indicate in the submitted data whether they were able to access sites in order to carry out the count.
Communities and Local Government, whether his department holds data on the number of incidences of traveller caravans on unauthorised developments on land owned by travellers being used to provide accommodation for undocumented migrants.
My Department does not hold this data. The Traveller Caravan Count includes data on the number of caravans and traveller sites in England. It does not include the number of occupants residing in these caravans or caravan sites, nor their characteristics.
Communities and Local Government, if he will publish data on the number of traveller caravans on unauthorised developments on land (a) owned by travellers and (b) not owned by travellers by local authority in each year between 2015 and 2025.
Data on the number of traveller caravans on unauthorised sites on land (a) owned by travellers, i.e. unauthorised developments, and (b) on land not owned by travellers, i.e. unauthorised encampments, by each local planning authority is available from Live Table 1 of the published Official Statistics on gov.uk here. The Table in question presents data for the last six counts. However, data going back to 2015 can be found in the same table of previous releases.
Communities and Local Government, if he will publish data on the number of local authorities that do not operate out-of-hours planning enforcement teams.
My Department does not collect data on the operating hours of planning enforcement teams.
Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the advice provided to the Government by the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition.
As part of the Government’s careful consideration of the Working Group’s advice, officials have undertaken some limited and focused informal engagement with stakeholders. It is standard practice for Government to engage stakeholders on policy development.Following consideration of the above, we will make any relevant announcements in due course.
Communities and Local Government, whether external (a) organisations and (b) stakeholders have been invited to view the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition's draft definition of Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim hatred in advance of publication.
As part of the Government’s careful consideration of the Working Group’s advice, officials have undertaken some limited and focused informal engagement with stakeholders. It is standard practice for Government to engage stakeholders on policy development.Following consideration of the above, we will make any relevant announcements in due course.
Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the proposed definition of Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred in advance of its adoption.
As part of the Government’s careful consideration of the Working Group’s advice, officials have undertaken some limited and focused informal engagement with stakeholders. It is standard practice for Government to engage stakeholders on policy development.Following consideration of the above, we will make any relevant announcements in due course.
Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the names of the (a) organisations and (b) stakeholders that have viewed the Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition's draft definition of Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim hatred in advance of publication.
As part of the Government’s careful consideration of the Working Group’s advice, officials have undertaken some limited and focused informal engagement with stakeholders. It is standard practice for Government to engage stakeholders on policy development.Following consideration of the above, we will make any relevant announcements in due course.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's news story entitled British Muslim Trust appointed as new partner to monitor and tackle anti-Muslim hatred, published on 21 July 2025, when her Department was informed that Akeela Ahmed would be appointed CEO of the British Muslim Trust.
The Combatting Hatred Against Muslims Fund was established this year to respond to the evolving nature of religious intolerance and targeted hate incidents faced by Muslim communities, which are at the highest level on record.The British Muslim Trust (BMT) was appointed as the recipient of the Fund following a rigorous and transparent application process, in which it was the highest scoring applicant.The application submitted by BMT on 18 May 2025 included information on their intentions for the staffing of key individuals, including the CEO. These plans were dependent on being identified as the preferred bidder for the Fund.In establishing the BMT, The Aziz Foundation and Randeree Charitable Trust have worked closely with Akeela Ahmed MBE, who they intend to appoint as CEO, drawing on her decades of experience in working with grassroots organisations and policy-level anti-hate work.
Communities and Local Government, whether there is (a) lesbian, (b) gay and (c) bisexual muslim representation on the Working Group to define Islamophobia.
The independent working group includes members from a cross-section of society and have been selected for their technical expertise and experience and ability to work to deliver the objectives set out in the Terms of Reference. Alongside drawing on their own expertise, the working group are engaging widely to ensure their proposed definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of Muslim communities across the United Kingdom.