Written questions by Gill.

Whether her Department has asked the Office for National Statistics to use anonymised person-level data from the 2021 census to help improve the accuracy of data on the (a) ethnicity and (b) religion of victims of hate crime offences.

The Home Office publishes official statistics on hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales. This includes information on religious hate crimes, by targeted religion, including rates per population. These are calculated using population data from the 2021 Census.There have not been discussions with the ONS on the feasibility of linking Census data to hate crime data, this is something the Home Office is keen to explore.The latest statistical bulletin can be found here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2025 - GOV.UK

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has considered (a) recognising and (b) establishing a definition of anti-Sikh hate.

All forms of racial and religious discrimination are completely unacceptable, including that directed at Sikhs. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat this. We welcome the Sikh Guard initiative, a third-party reporting service specifically for the Sikh Community. Over the last 5 years, the Government has provided funding to True Vision – the police hate crime programme and online reporting portal – to encourage communities to report hate crime and reinforce relationships between communities and policing. As a part of this, True Vision has been working with the Sikh Guard (established by the National Sikh Police Association) and Rakkha initiatives to encourage reporting from within Sikh communities.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of (a) anti-Sikh, (b) anti-Muslim and (c) anti-Jewish hate.

This Government is committed to tackling all forms of hate crime and we are actively seeking to ensure the safety and protection of all individuals and communities across England and Wales. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion, and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat this.The Home Office regularly updates data relating to Hate crimes, and keeps the findings under constant review. The most recent Hate crime for England and Wales statistics were published on 9 October 2025.

Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to increase the number of (a) indoor and (b) covered tennis facilities in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK following the Spending Review. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans. I have met with the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis and padel, along with representatives from other sports, to discuss this.The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. This includes long term investment in the Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years from 2022 to 2027 to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives in England that will benefit as many people as possible.

Media and Sport, how her Department plans to support the LTA in developing covered (a) tennis, (b) padel and (c) multi-sport facilities to help facilitate (i) year-round and (ii) all-weather participation.

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK following the Spending Review. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans. I have met with the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis and padel, along with representatives from other sports, to discuss this.The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. This includes long term investment in the Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years from 2022 to 2027 to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives in England that will benefit as many people as possible.

Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to support the development of (a) affordable and (b) accessible padel courts in (i) Birmingham Edgbaston constituency and (ii) other parts of the UK.

The Government is determined to ensure that everyone has access to quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That is why we have committed another £400 million to transform facilities across the whole of the UK following the Spending Review. We are now working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need and will then set out further plans. I have met with the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis and padel, along with representatives from other sports, to discuss this.The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. This includes long term investment in the Lawn Tennis Association, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years from 2022 to 2027 to invest in community tennis and padel initiatives in England that will benefit as many people as possible.

Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help protect freeholders from excessive (a) delays and (b) charges imposed by private management companies during property transactions.

My Department has not carried out an assessment of the prevalence and potential impact on freehold property sales of rent-charge clauses. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 contains measures to protect homeowners on freehold estates, including specific measures to improve the home buying and selling process by ensuring information required to sell a home on a freehold estate is accessible at a reasonable cost. We will be consulting this year on the secondary legislation that is required to switch on most of these measures. The government is determined to end the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ entirely and we will also consult this year on legislative and policy options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders.

Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the (a) prevalence and (b) potential impact on freehold property sales of restrictive rent-charge clauses used by developers.

My Department has not carried out an assessment of the prevalence and potential impact on freehold property sales of rent-charge clauses. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 contains measures to protect homeowners on freehold estates, including specific measures to improve the home buying and selling process by ensuring information required to sell a home on a freehold estate is accessible at a reasonable cost. We will be consulting this year on the secondary legislation that is required to switch on most of these measures. The government is determined to end the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ entirely and we will also consult this year on legislative and policy options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders.

Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has received recent representations from relevant stakeholders on the potential impact of (a) rent charge clauses and (b) management company practices on homeowners’ ability to sell their properties.

My Department has not carried out an assessment of the prevalence and potential impact on freehold property sales of rent-charge clauses. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 contains measures to protect homeowners on freehold estates, including specific measures to improve the home buying and selling process by ensuring information required to sell a home on a freehold estate is accessible at a reasonable cost. We will be consulting this year on the secondary legislation that is required to switch on most of these measures. The government is determined to end the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ entirely and we will also consult this year on legislative and policy options to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders.

If she will make representations to the ONS on including (a) Sikhs and (b) Jews in their advice to public bodies on using ethnicity categories.

Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The current harmonised standard is based on the 2011 Census questions used across the UK; those questions were updated for the 2021 and 2022 Censuses. The current standard does not include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories for a person’s ethnic group.The ONS, which is independent of government, is reviewing the harmonised standard to ensure this remains appropriate and meets the needs of both data users and respondents. This will include a public consultation later this year.We await the outcome of this review.

If she will ask the Office for National Statistics to change its policy that recommends excluding Jews and Sikhs from data collected on ethnicity in its ethnicity harmonised standard.

Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The current harmonised standard is based on the 2011 Census questions used across the UK; those questions were updated for the 2021 and 2022 Censuses. The current standard does not include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories for a person’s ethnic group.The ONS, which is independent of government, is reviewing the harmonised standard to ensure this remains appropriate and meets the needs of both data users and respondents. This will include a public consultation later this year.We await the outcome of this review.

If she will ask the Office for National Statistics to update the ethnicity harmonised standard to include a tick box option for (a) Jews and (b) Sikhs.

Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The current harmonised standard is based on the 2011 Census questions used across the UK; those questions were updated for the 2021 and 2022 Censuses. The current standard does not include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories for a person’s ethnic group.The ONS, which is independent of government, is reviewing the harmonised standard to ensure this remains appropriate and meets the needs of both data users and respondents. This will include a public consultation later this year.We await the outcome of this review.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the Office for National Statistics not requiring public bodies to collect data on ethnicity for (a) Jews and (b) Sikhs.

Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).The current harmonised standard is based on the 2011 Census questions used across the UK; those questions were updated for the 2021 and 2022 Censuses. The current standard does not include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories for a person’s ethnic group.The ONS, which is independent of government, is reviewing the harmonised standard to ensure this remains appropriate and meets the needs of both data users and respondents. This will include a public consultation later this year.We await the outcome of this review.

What recent progress she has made with the banking industry on the roll out of banking hubs in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.

The Government recognises the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets in Birmingham Edgbaston, and across the country. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament.   Over 230 hubs have been announced so far, and over 170 are already open.The location of these hubs is determined independently by LINK, the industry coordinating body responsible for making access to cash assessments. When a cash service such as a bank branch closes, or if LINK receives a request directly from a community, LINK assesses a community’s access to cash needs. This assessment may lead to a recommendation for the establishment of a banking hub in that community.

What data (a) his Department and (b) NHS England hold on the number of (i) Sikh and (ii) Jewish people with late stage cancer diagnoses.

The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) in NHS England, as the national cancer registry, collects and analyses diagnosis and treatment data on cancer patients in England. The religion of patients is not collected or stored by the NDRS. Further information on the NDRS is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs

How many people in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency were enrolled on Pension Credit in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025 to date.

As of November 2023, 2,586 pensioner households were in receipt of Pension Credit in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.The latest Pension Credit statistics were published in May 2025 and cover the period up to November 2024. These show that as of November 2024, 2,577 pensioner households were in receipt of Pension Credit in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore.The Pension Credit caseload statistics for 2025 are not available yet. The next iteration of Pension Credit caseload statistics will be released on 12th August 2025 as part of the DWP Benefits Statistics quarterly release. This release will cover the quarterly period up to the end of February 2025.

With reference to the policy paper entitled Greater Birmingham and Solihull: Growth Deal, published on 7 July 2014, how much funding was (a) allocated and (b) provided for the Hagley Road SPRINT project.

Hagley Road Sprint was included in West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) £1.05bn City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) programme for the years 2022/23 to 2026/27. CRSTS is a devolved funding programme and it is for local leaders to decide how to allocate this funding to address their local transport priorities. WMCA has also been allocated a £2.4bn Transport for City Region (TCR) Settlement for the years 2027/28 to 2031/32 to support them to drive growth, improve access to opportunities and decarbonise their transport infrastructure.

How many GP practices (a) opened and (b) closed in (i) Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, (ii) Birmingham and (iii) the West Midlands between May 2010 and June 2024.

The tables in the document attached show the number of general practices (GPs) which have opened and closed between January 2014 and May 2025 in the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, in Birmingham, and in the West Midlands, as this is the furthest the data goes back to the most recently published.This analysis only considers head practices and ignores branch practices. If a practice ceases to be a main practice and becomes a branch practice of another, this will count as a “closure” in this data, while in reality GP provision at the site may well have continued under the new head practice.Practices close for a variety of reasons, including mergers or retirement, and so do not necessarily indicate a reduction in the quality of care. When a practice does close, patients are informed of the closure and advised to register at another local practice of their choice within their area.

How many people are enrolled on Pension Credit, by (a) religion and (b) ethnic group.

Latest caseload statistics show that as of November 2024, there were 1,391,728 pensioner households in receipt of Pension Credit. This data is available via DWP Stat-Xplore. This can be broken down into constituency and local authority level as well as by various characteristics such as age, gender and partner indicator. However, this cannot be broken down by religion or ethnic group, as this information is not collected as part of the PC claim process.

How many full time equivalent NHS dentists were employed in (a) Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2024.

The following table shows how many full time equivalent (FTE) National Health Service dentists were employed in 2024 within the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB), which includes the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, as well as regional figures for the Midlands:YearNumber of FTE dentists employed in the Birmingham and Solihull ICBNumber of FTE dentists employed in the Midlands20243372,887Notes:we do not hold data on how many NHS dentists are employed at a constituency level or for the West Midlands region; andFTE refers to hours worked by one full-time employee during a standard workweek. The employee is contracted to do 37.5 hours per week.Data is not held for full time equivalent NHS dentists employed in 2010.