Written questions by Gill.

Which schools in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency will receive funding from the school rebuilding programme.

The government has given a long-term commitment for funding through to 2034/35 to improve the condition of schools and colleges across England.The department is investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme and expanding the School Rebuilding Programme, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years.Details of schools currently in the School Rebuilding Programme are published on GOV.UK, including the following schools in the constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston: Welsh House Farm Community School and Special Needs Resources Base, and Baskerville School. The department plans to set out further details about the selection process for the additional 250 schools to be selected for the programme later this year.In addition, the department is investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance and renewal to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26. Details of annual capital funding are made available on GOV.UK.

What data he holds on the number of (a) referrals and (b) complaints to social care services received by councils from (i) retirement residential home and (ii) independent living providers.

The Department does not hold this information. By law, all health and social care services must have a procedure for dealing efficiently with complaints, and anyone who has seen or experienced poor-quality care has the right to complain to the organisation that provided or paid for the care. If an individual is not satisfied with the way a provider or local authority has dealt with a complaint, they may escalate it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman who can investigate individual concerns.

What estimate has she made of the number of children who will be eligible for Free School Meals under the plans to expand eligibility in (a) Birmingham Edgbaston constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy coming later this year.Providing over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunchtime meal every school day will also lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, meaning children get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.We have published data on the number of children who could benefit from expanded provision by constituency/region/local authority here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-school-meals-expansion-impact-on-poverty-levels.

Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of safeguards protecting residents of retirement homes from additional paid-for services from independent living providers.

The government is committed to ensuring that leaseholders, including those living in retirement homes, are protected from unfair and unreasonable practices.There are currently two government-approved codes of practice in force in relation to the residential leasehold sector and private retirement housing. These are the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Residential Management Service Charge Code and the Association of Retirement Housing Managers (AHRM) Code of Practice. The enforcement of standards set out in these codes can be taken into account as evidence, at court or tribunal hearings.Individual leases set out what services leaseholders may expect to receive, and what they should pay for. By law variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to works or services, the works or services must be of a reasonable standard. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges, they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal. On 4 July, the government published a consultation on strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services. It can be found on gov.uk here.The government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations from the Older People’s Housing Taskforce report, including in relation to specialist accommodation for older people.

How many hate crime reports were made to the police by the Sikh Guard in each of the last five years.

The Home Office publishes official statistics on the number of religious hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales by the targeted religion of the victim. The Home Office does not hold data on who reported these crimes to the police.The latest information, for the year ending March 2024, can be found here: Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2024 - GOV.UK

Communities and Local Government, what data her Department holds on the number of people living in deprivation by ethnic group.

We do not hold or collect data specifically on people belonging to an ethnic minority who live in deprivation. The indices of deprivation (2019) are publicly available and show patterns of deprivation across England and Wales. These data could be cross-checked with the Census data to show the geographic locations of people from ethnic minority groups.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.

The Scotland Office does not hold information in relation to the ethnicity of staff.All staff that join the Scotland Office, do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other Government bodies, principally the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government, who remain the employers. All information in relation to protected characteristics, including the ethnicity of staff is held and managed by the employing departments.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

My Department is not an employer in its own right and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) provide employment services on our behalf, including setting ethnicity data categories for collection.

Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics.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 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 merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

There are no plans for the Department for Transport to assess the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group as part of data collection. For analytical data collection, the Department follows Office for National Statistics guidance on how to capture personal characteristics and ethnic group data choices are aligned to the Civil Service wide NOVA Functional Reference Model.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS).The Ministry of Justice collects ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard.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 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 he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.

The Northern Ireland Office usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics. 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 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.

Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.

DSIT collects ethnicity data through the voluntary completion of a diversity declaration by its staff. Like most public bodies, we collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics.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 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 merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics. 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 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 he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) adheres to the guidance provided by Civil Service Statistics which records Sikh and Jewish under the classification of religion. The MOD’s Biannual Diversity statistics are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-index Public bodies usually collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS). The current harmonised ethnicity 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 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 and we await the outcome of this review.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

HM Treasury follows guidance from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Government Statistical Service (GSS) on data collection using harmonised standards to ensure comparability across government. The current ethnicity standard is based on 2011 Census questions, which were reviewed and updated for the 2021 Census. The GSS has been conducting a comprehensive review of the ethnicity standard since March 2022, considering a range of user needs. HM Treasury also collects staff data on ethnic group, national identity and religion, which helps capture fuller cultural identity beyond ethnicity alone. The ONS recognises that ethnic group membership is self-defined and subjectively meaningful to individuals, and there is no universal consensus on what constitutes an ethnic group. The religion harmonised standard includes Sikh and Jewish response options, and any changes to data collection categories, including ethnicity, would follow the updated GSS harmonised standard once their review concludes. We continue to monitor this review closely and will implement any revised standards that emerge from the GSS process. The timing for any changes will depend on when the GSS completes its review and issues updated guidance to departments.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero follows established government standards and guidance when collecting data on ethnicity. At present, there are no plans to introduce specific Sikh or Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in departmental data collection. For external surveys and research, we generally use the harmonised ethnicity standards developed by the Government Statistical Service (GSS), which currently do not include specific Sikh or Jewish categories. However, it is important to note that these standards are under ongoing review. In addition, while Sikh and Jewish are not included as ethnic categories, they are represented in the harmonised question on religion.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office follows the Government Statistical Service's harmonised standard for ethnicity classification. We will not unilaterally change our data categories as it would make our data inconsistent with wider Civil Service and Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.

The merits of including Jewish or Sikh as an option when recording ethnicity in National Health Service data, and other issues relating to how the NHS records information on protected characteristics, are being considered by the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics (UISPC) programme. The UISPC programme is a wide-ranging NHS England and Department led review of equality monitoring that examines workforce, employment, and patient datasets and national surveys. It explores how best to update equality monitoring arrangements by reference to the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010.

Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by her Department.

MHCLG do collect data on religion and/or belief. This includes Jewish and Sikh options. This data is collected separate to ethnic group dataWe collect ethnicity data in line with the ethnicity harmonised standard, which is developed by the independent Office for National Statistics.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 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.