Jess Asato MP: written questions
169 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Mental Health Services: Domestic Abuse and Sexual OffencesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 72187More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance to NHS commissioners on commissioning qualified counselling and psychotherapy services as part of the specialist support provided to survivors of domestic abuse and sexual
Answer: The Department is working with the Home Office and other partners across the Government on a new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. There are no current plans to issue any such guidance to National Health Service commissioners.
Answered 10 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordCounselling: Domestic Abuse and Sexual OffencesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 72186More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of (a) current waiting times and (b) levels of access to specialist counselling support for survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence f
Answer: We know that too many people, including survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence, are not receiving the mental health care they need, and that waits for mental health services are too long. We are determined to change that, which is why we have cho...
Answered 19 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: NeurodiversityDepartment for EducationTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70119More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the extension of the PINS programme on children with developmental language disorder.
Answer: The partnerships for inclusion of neurodiversity in schools (PINS) programme covers all neurodivergence and so includes developmental language disorder. An independent evaluation of the PINS programme is underway. This evaluation will thoroughly explore t...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAssistance AnimalsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70099More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to give emotional support animals the same legal status as guide dogs.
Answer: Standards for assistance dogs are currently and historically maintained on the basis of a voluntary regulatory framework. There is no specific legislation for the regulation of assistance dogs and no legislation is planned. There are recognised standards ...
Answered 2 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordRunning: Gender Based ViolenceHome OfficeTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69476More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled Abuse of women runners: implications for the violence against women and girls policy agenda, published by the University of Manchester in November 2024, whether s
Answer: This Government has been clear that the level of violence against women and girls (VAWG) in our country is intolerable, and we are treating it as the national emergency that it is. Everyone should both be and feel safe whilst going about their day-to-day ...
Answered 17 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordPupils: AbsenteeismDepartment for EducationTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68496More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing annual statistics on the number of children who miss education due to long term illness; and if she will publish statistics on the child's (a
Answer: The department collects data on children missing education from local authorities. The latest data, including breakdowns by geography, characteristic and length of time missing education, is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov...
Answered 12 Aug 2025
Original Parliament recordPupils: AbsenteeismDepartment for EducationTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68495More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s statutory guidance entitled Children missing education: statutory guidance for local authorities, published August 2024, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits
Answer: Local authorities do have a statutory duty under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to arrange suitable and (normally) full-time education for children of compulsory school age who, because of exclusion, illness or other reasons, would not receive suita...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPupils: AbsenteeismDepartment for EducationTabled 16 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68494More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s statutory guidance entitled Children missing education - Statutory guidance for local authorities, updated August 2024, when she plans to update the guidance; and if she will
Answer: The department conducted a call for evidence from 18 May to 20 July 2023 on ‘Improving support for children missing education’ to understand the sector’s current approach to identifying and supporting children missing education (CME), and to inform any ch...
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordTeachers: Flexible WorkingDepartment for EducationTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68152More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to support schools to develop timetabling expertise in order to enable more flexible working patterns for teachers (a) who are mothers and (b) generally.
Answer: The department is taking action to support and promote flexible working in schools for all teachers and leaders. We have published non-statutory guidance alongside our flexible working toolkit, which includes practical resources to help leaders implement ...
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordLonelinessDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 26 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63102More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to update the Government's loneliness strategy, entitled, A connected society: a strategy for tackling loneliness, published on 15 October 2018.
Answer: The Government is committed to supporting people to have the social connections they need. This is a key part of achieving wider government priorities across health, community cohesion, and supporting young people. Rather than a standalone strategy for ta...
Answered 28 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordHealth Services: Domestic AbuseDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 25 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 62873More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to develop central commissioning guidance for clinically-based domestic violence and abuse specialists.
Answer: In May 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care worked with the Ministry of Justice in developing central commissioning guidance for Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) working in a range o...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordNational Age Assessment BoardHome OfficeTabled 19 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 61262More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the cost to the public purse was of establishing and operating the National Age Assessment Board; and if she will divert this expenditure into training social workers in local authorities.
Answer: Due to the operational nature of the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB), the costs are subject to change and are currently not published. The Home Office continues to keep all aspects of the immigration system under review, including the best process fo...
Answered 30 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: ChildrenHome OfficeTabled 19 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 61261More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to review the (a) accuracy, (b) ethics and (c) fairness of (i) scientific methods and (ii) artificial intelligence tools used to assess the age of unaccompan
Answer: Assessing the age of unaccompanied children is an incredibly complex and difficult task, and the Home Office is currently assessing which scientific methods and artificial intelligence can best improve age assessment methods. The Government will inform Pa...
Answered 26 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: ChildrenHome OfficeTabled 19 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 61260More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps her Department has taken to publish (a) the number of people claiming to be children who have been assessed as adults on first arrival and (b) the number later found to be children f
Answer: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Available data on the number of raised and resolved age disputes is published in table Asy_D05 of the asylum detailed tables. Updated data will be included ...
Answered 26 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordAsylum: ChildrenHome OfficeTabled 19 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 61259More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of her Department's age-assessment process for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children; and what steps she is taking to ensure that children are treat
Answer: Assessing the age of unaccompanied children is an incredibly complex and difficult task, and the Home Office is currently assessing which scientific methods and artificial intelligence can best improve age assessment methods. The Government will inform Pa...
Answered 26 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordHoliday Activities and Food ProgrammeDepartment for EducationTabled 5 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57800More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the children who will now receive free school meals will also be eligible for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme.
Answer: This government has taken another step towards delivering our Plan for Change with our announcement that all children in households in receipt of Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals (FSM) from September 2026. This unprecedented step wi...
Answered 13 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordWarm Homes Plan: Rural AreasDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 3 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57010More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Warm Homes Plan will include clean heating solutions required in rural areas as well as urban areas.
Answer: Our ambitious Warm Homes Plan will support investment in households, including both rural and urban areas, to install energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating to save families money on their bills. Heat pumps, along with heat networks, will be th...
Answered 11 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordWarm Homes Plan: Rural AreasDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 3 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 57009More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Warm Homes Plan will include the decarbonisation of rural off-grid households.
Answer: Our ambitious Warm Homes Plan will support investment in households, including rural off-grid households, to install energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating to save families money on their bills. The Government has committed £3.4 billion over th...
Answered 11 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordTruancy: ProsecutionsDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55998More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to take steps to help minimise the potential impact of prosecutions for child truancy from school on mothers.
Answer: Absence is one of the biggest barriers to success for children and young people. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, limiting their opportunity to succeed. This government is committed to imp...
Answered 25 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordTruancy: ProsecutionsDepartment for EducationTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55996More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of prosecutions for child truancy from school on mothers.
Answer: Absence is one of the biggest barriers to success for children and young people. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, limiting their opportunity to succeed. This government is committed to imp...
Answered 25 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordFinancial Services: DisadvantagedTreasuryTabled 30 May 2025AnsweredUIN 55994More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a mandatory disclosure regime for financial services providers on activities to improve financial inclusion.
Answer: Ensuring individuals have access to the appropriate financial products and services they need is a key priority for the Government. This is why I have committed to publish a Financial Inclusion Strategy later this year which will examine the barriers cons...
Answered 9 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Media: StandardsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46308More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what plans his Department has to prevent social media companies from removing provenance metadata from content posted online.
Answer: The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is working with other government departments and agencies to explore the efficacy of technologies that seek to use provenance and metadata to improve the transparency of AI-generated and modified conte...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Media: StandardsDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46307More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to promote the use of provenance metadata on content shared online to help reduce disinformation.
Answer: Government recognises the potential for online mis- and disinformation to undermine public trust in the information environment. Mis- and disinformation should be tackled through a multi-faceted, whole of society approach. Solutions that enable users and ...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordHousing: Older PeopleMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 46306More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of recommendation 4 of the report by the Older People’s Housing Taskforce entitled Our future homes:
Answer: The government is giving careful consideration to the recommendations in the final report of the Older People’s Housing Taskforce and are committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market. We will continue to consider this...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPornography: InternetDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 20 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 903458More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what his planned timetable is for responding to the recommendations of the report entitled Creating a safer world: the challenge of regulating online pornography, published on 27 Februa
Answer: Services in scope of the Online Safety Act are already required to take action to tackle horrific illegal pornographic content and will be required prevent children accessing all pornographic content. The Secretary of State has met Baroness Bertin to disc...
Answered 26 Mar 2025
Original Parliament record
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