Every parliamentary written question tabled by Jas Athwal this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 152 · this parliament
Innovation and Technology, with reference to the Policy paper: “Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods”, published on 11 November 2025, what progress she has made on increasing investment in alternative methods.
Awaiting answer.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her Bangladeshi counterparts on the protection of religious freedoms for (a) Hindus, (b) Christians, (c) Buddhists, (d) Sikhs and (e)
The UK condemns all acts of violence targeting religious or ethnic minorities and continues to emphasise the importance of protecting the rights of all communities to the Bangladesh Government.Following the February 2026 elections, I visited Bangladesh an...
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help protect (a) Christians and (b) other religious minorities from discrimination and violence in Syria.
I refer the Hon Member to my statement on GOV.UK marking the one‑year anniversary of the fall of the Assad regime, available at the link below, which set out the UK's support for the efforts of the new Syrian government to build a more stable, inclusive, ...
What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of free-school meals on children in Ilford South constituency; and whether she has considered trialling Free School Meals to children in secondary
The department is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have announced that free school meals will be extended to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, lifting 100,000 ...
Media and Sport, what funding her Department is providing to help increase levels of participation in grassroots sport.
The Government believes in the power of grassroots sport. Everyone should have access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. We provide the majority of support through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 m...
Communities and Local Government, what assessment has her Department made of the implications for her policies of Sikhs not being recognised as a distinct ethnic group within official ethnicity classifications.
The GSS ethnicity harmonised standard helps to make statistics and data more comparable, consistent and coherent. MHCLG collects data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics. I r...
Communities and Local Government, which major Government datasets do not permit the identification of Sikhs as a distinct ethnic group.
The GSS ethnicity harmonised standard helps to make statistics and data more comparable, consistent and coherent. MHCLG collects data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics. I r...
Whether his Department holds data on how many Sikhs died during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
What estimate his Department has made of the number of Sikhs in the UK using (a) ethnicity and (b) religion data.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.A response to the Gentleman's Parliamentary Question of 3rd June is attached.
Whether his Department can identify COVID-19 mortality rates, hospitalisation rates and infection rates among Sikhs.
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.
What steps she is taking to improve the nutritional quality of grab and go style foods in schools.
The School Food Standards set the mandatory nutritional framework for food and drink provided in state‑funded schools in England. They are designed to ensure children receive the energy and nutrients they need during the school day, while giving schools f...
What steps is the Department taking to reduce waiting times in the family courts.
This Government is committed to improving the performance of the Family Courts, and the Family Justice Board has agreed system-wide priorities and targets for reducing delay across England and Wales. The latest published data shows a reduction in the national average case duration for both public and private law cases.In London, which has particular challenges around Family Court delays, a dedicated Family Justice Strategy has been implemented, bringing together key partners and the judiciary. This work has included targeted investment over 2025/26 to tackle the outstanding private law caseload by providing additional court capacity and a focus on ensuring that courts follow the Public Law Outline, with clear arrangements for overseeing performance. These measures have already delivered a reduction in delays.The Child Focused Model for private law now operates in 10 of 43 Family Court areas and seek to enhance the experience of children and families. They have demonstrated significant impact on timeliness. Cases are concluding between 11-30 weeks quicker under the model and outstanding caseloads have been reduced by up to 50%. The Government announced on 17 March its intention to roll this model out nationally by the end of this Parliament
What steps his Department is taking to ensure that family courts safeguard the wellbeing of both parents and children.
This Government is committed to ensuring that families involved in private family law proceedings receive the support they need and we are delivering a package of reforms to strengthen their wellbeing and safety throughout the process.A key part of this reform is the repeal of the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989. We have carefully assessed the impact of this measure, which involves courts adopting an open minded enquiry into what is in a child’s best interests, rather than starting from an assumption about parental involvement. Repealing the presumption will help ensure that decisions about child arrangements keep the child’s welfare at the centre of decision-making and are based on a robust assessment of risk. The impact assessment can be found at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0389/Non-IRCC_impact_assessment.pdf.We are also expanding our Child Focused Courts programme nationally, which improves how Family Courts manage many private law children cases, including those involving a child arrangements order. By providing early risk assessment, specialist domestic abuse support and a non-adversarial, problem-solving process, it better safeguards the wellbeing of children and families.
What steps his Department is taking to relocate all eligible Afghan nationals as part of the Afghanistan Settlement Scheme.
Under the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP), eligible Afghans continue to be relocated to the UK from third countries, once they have completed the strict security and entry clearance checks that are required to obtain a UK visa. His Majesty's Government continues to provide discretionary support for eligible Afghans in third countries while a decision is being reached on their UK entry clearance applications. It remains a priority for this Government to have successfully concluded the ARP by the end of this Parliament.
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of police powers to consider the cumulative impact of protests on the right and freedom to peaceful protest.
The Government remains committed to protecting the right to peaceful protest, while ensuring that communities are protected from repeated and sustained disruption. The cumulative disruption provision in the Crime and Policing Bill places a duty on senior officers to take account of the cumulative impact of protest activity when considering whether to impose conditions under sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986. Police forces can already take cumulative impact into account when imposing conditions on protests.All measures within the Crime and Policing Bill are assessed to be compatible with the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the repeal of the presumption of parental involvement on children’s safety and wellbeing.
This Government is committed to ensuring that families involved in private family law proceedings receive the support they need and we are delivering a package of reforms to strengthen their wellbeing and safety throughout the process.A key part of this reform is the repeal of the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989. We have carefully assessed the impact of this measure, which involves courts adopting an open minded enquiry into what is in a child’s best interests, rather than starting from an assumption about parental involvement. Repealing the presumption will help ensure that decisions about child arrangements keep the child’s welfare at the centre of decision-making and are based on a robust assessment of risk. The impact assessment can be found at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0389/Non-IRCC_impact_assessment.pdf.We are also expanding our Child Focused Courts programme nationally, which improves how Family Courts manage many private law children cases, including those involving a child arrangements order. By providing early risk assessment, specialist domestic abuse support and a non-adversarial, problem-solving process, it better safeguards the wellbeing of children and families.
What steps his Department is taking to increase standards in and ensure effective regulation of the cosmetic surgery sector.
On 7 August 2025, the Government announced its plans to introduce measures to improve the safety of the cosmetics sector. This included prioritising the introduction of legal restrictions which will ensure that the highest risk cosmetic procedures are brought into Care Quality Commission regulation and can only be performed by specified regulated healthcare professionals.In addition, the Government also committed to legislating to introduce a licensing scheme in England for lower risk procedures through powers granted through the Health and Care Act 2022. Under this scheme, which will be operated by local authorities, practitioners will be required to obtain a licence to perform specified cosmetic procedures, and the premises from which they operate will also need to be licensed. To protect children and young people, the Government is also committed to mandating age restrictions for cosmetic procedures.The proposals will be taken forward through secondary legislation and therefore subject to the parliamentary process before the legal restrictions, or licensing regulations, can be introduced. We are now working with stakeholders to develop detailed plans and intend to consult on proposals for restrictions around the performance of the highest risk procedures in the spring.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that genocide is not committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 9 June 2025 to Question 55524.
What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing transitional arrangements for people on the 5 year ILR route.
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the retrospective increase in ILR on skill levels in key industries such as health and social care.
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Transitional arrangements refer to temporary measures or rules put in place to manage the shift from one system, or policy framework, to another. We are also seeking views on the potential impacts of the proposed changes on different groups. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.