News & Press
Wednesday in Westminster
04 March 2010
A few parliamentary written questions of interest were answered yesterday on the Gypsy and Traveller communities, local government services for asylum, anti-semitism in schools and the government’s prevent strategy. These are outlined in detail below.
Shahid Malik MP (Community Cohesion Minister) answered two questions from Stewart Jackson MP (Shadow Communities and Local Government Minister) on the amount of unauthorised Traveller sites in each local authority and on the Department for Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) Progress Report on Gypsy and Traveller Policy. Julie Morgan MP (Labour, Cardiff North) also asked how many vacant plots are on local authority gypsy sites.
In addition, Jackson asked what representations DCLG has received from local authorities on funding to meet costs of supporting asylum seekers. Malik stated in response that in the last 12 months the department has received representations from the London Borough of Croydon and the High Ethnicity Authorities Special Interest Group.
David Amess MP (Conservative, Southend West) asked the Department for Children, Schools and Families what action it has taken recently to reduce antisemitism in schools. Vernon Coaker MP (Schools Minister) mentioned in his response that the department is currently running a consultation on racist bullying, and that a new bullying duty will come into effect in September 2010.
In the House of Lords, Lord Hylton (Crossbench) asked what criticisms the Government has received about its Prevent strategy, to which Lord West of Spithead (Junior Minister, Home Office) said that the government has sought a wide range of feedback on its strategy, and “consider that there is broad support for Prevent and that the strategy remains correct”.
