Jess Asato MP: written questions
85 published records · newest first.
Written questions
LonelinessDepartment 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 recordFood: NutritionDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32603More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to (a) reduce consumption amongst children and (b) encourage reformulation of products that are high in fat, sugar and salt that are targeted at children.
Answer: The Government is committed to tackling the childhood obesity crisis and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. We have revised the National Planning Policy Framework for local government which has provided stronger powers to local authoriti...
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMalnutrition: ChildrenDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32602More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to (a) tackle, (b) prevent and (c) monitor child poverty in the form of malnutrition.
Answer: Most cases of malnutrition are clinical and will be secondary to another health condition which may impact on nutritional needs or impact on a person’s ability to eat and drink, rather than it solely being caused by poor or inadequate dietary intake. The ...
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordMalnutrition: ScreeningDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32601More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to screen for malnutrition in (a) children and (b) adults across the country in a consistent manner.
Answer: The diagnosis and detection of malnutrition are key, and health staff are trained to spot the early warning signs so that effective individual treatment can be put in place. Tools and guidance are available through a range of organisations for health and ...
Answered 5 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCounselling: Domestic AbuseDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32488More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of counsellors trained to support children who have experienced or witnessed domestic abuse.
Answer: As commissioners of National Health Services, integrated care boards are responsible for making available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. Service delivery models are determined by service providers at a l...
Answered 11 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCounselling: Domestic AbuseDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32487More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that children who have witnessed domestic abuse can access age-appropriate counselling and therapeutic interventions.
Answer: Improving mental health support for children and young people is a priority for the Government and the National Health Service. Since 2018, NHS England has invested significant additional funding to ensure that more children and young people, including th...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCounselling: Domestic Abuse and Sexual OffencesMinistry of JusticeTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32486More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence are informed of their rights to access pre-trial therapeutic support.
Answer: We are clear that there is no need for victims to delay therapy before, during or after any potential trial on account of an ongoing police investigation or prosecution. The Victims’ Code provides that victims have the right to access support to help them...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCounselling: Domestic Abuse and Sexual OffencesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32485More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that counselling for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence includes culturally competent and specialist support for diverse communities.
Answer: NHS England cannot comment specifically on services which are commissioned by local providers, however work is continuing to address mental health inequalities and attract more professionals from other backgrounds.The Ministry of Justice and the Associati...
Answered 11 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCounselling: Domestic Abuse and Sexual OffencesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32484More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for counselling services supporting survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
Answer: Integrated care boards are responsible for providing health and care services to meet the needs of their local populations. Despite the challenging fiscal environment, we have chosen to prioritise funding to deliver expansions of NHS Talking Therapies in ...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordCounselling: Domestic Abuse and Sexual OffencesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 32483More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of trauma-informed counselling services for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
Answer: We are committed to delivering and expansion of NHS Talking Therapies, increasing the number of sessions available, and increasing the number of people completing a course of treatment by 384,000 by 2028/29.NHS Talking Therapies offer National Institute f...
Answered 3 Mar 2025
Original Parliament record
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