Satvir Kaur MP: speeches

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Speeches

7 Sept 2026 · Hate Crime Law: Misogyny · Hansard source
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On online abuse and harm, it is right and fitting that we work with tech companies because, fundamentally, we all have a responsibility. Where they are failing to come forward, legislation must always be the backstop. Of course, legislation is not the solution and the answer to everything, and working proactively should always be the first step, but we must ensure that we use all possible levers. The VAWG strategy makes it absolutely clear that we will continue to do that. To conclude, I thank all Members who have participated today. The Government share the determination behind this petition. As I have set out, we have already taken significant action in this area through the Crime and Policing Act, and any further changes to hate crime legislation will be informed by the findings of Lord Macdonald’s independent review on public order and hate crime legislation. More broadly, our work to tackle violence against women and girls continues at pace. The VAWG strategy sets out a blueprint, and this Government are determined to deliver on our mission. Tackling violence against women and girls is everyone’s business, and it is one of the biggest challenges of our time. The Government recognise that it is far too serious and important an issue for us not to act firmly on it, and we will continue to do so until women and girls—whoever they are and wherever they live—feel safe and can live free from fear.
7 Sept 2026 · Hate Crime Law: Misogyny · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward, and I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) for opening this debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee. I pay tribute to the organisers of the petition, including several student unions, whose commitment and hard work have helped to ensure that this important issue receives the attention it deserves. Sadly, their report, which highlights the scale of the problem, is only reinforced by other surveys and research. We know that people aged between 16 and 24 are more likely to be victims of sexual assault, and that those aged 16 to 19 experience higher levels of harassment than any other age group. As has been mentioned, we also know that non-contact abuse strongly leads to contact abuse. In addition, we know that behind every statistic is a daughter, a niece, a friend, a colleague or another loved one. To the petition organisers, to those who have signed the petition, and to the women and girls whose experiences lie behind it, I want to be clear that misogyny, harassment and violence against women and girls have no place in our homes, on our streets, where we study, where we work or anywhere in our society, and that tackling this is and will remain a Government priority. My hon. and learned Friend has my personal commitment to the violence against women and girls strategy, and everything that it seeks to deliver. For me, it has a particular focus on prevention. The petition calls for misogyny to be considered within the hate crime legislative framework, alongside wider action against harassment, assault and online abuse of women and girls. I recognise that for many people who signed this petition, this debate is about so much more than legislative frameworks; for them, it is about whether women and girls feel safe, whether their experiences are taken seriously, and whether the law adequately recognises the harm caused by misogynistic behaviour and abuse. Like too many women, I have personally experienced it, and I am determined to do all I can to ensure that my daughter does not grow up in a world where feeling unsafe or being harassed purely because you are a woman is the norm. As Members know, the Government have already legislated to recognise sex-based hostility within the aggravated offences framework, and we are taking action to tackle violence against women and girls. I will take each of those points in turn before addressing the petition’s calls directly, and I will respond to questions asked throughout the debate. As Members know, when talking about hate crime legislation in England and Wales, we are referring not to a single Act, but to a framework. Therefore, calls to recognise misogyny as a hate crime may refer to different parts of the framework, each of which covers different protected characteristics and serves a distinct legal purpose. Broadly speaking, the framework operates through three main mechanisms: aggravated offences, enhanced sentencing provision and offences that criminalise the stirring of hatred against particular groups. As mentioned throughout the debate, through the Crime and Policing Act, the Government legislated to extend the aggravated offences framework part to cover sex and presumed sex, alongside disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity. Under the Act, offences motivated by hostility towards those characteristics will be treated on the same basis as those involving race or religion. As my hon. Friend the Member for Reading West and Mid Berkshire (Olivia Bailey) said, it is all interconnected. That means that for the first time, the courts will be able to recognise hostility based on sex and reflect the additional harm caused when someone is targeted because of their sex. The new legislation also targets nudification tools, which several hon. Members, including the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman), raised. Such tools use artificial intelligence to generate intimate images of individuals without their consent. The legislation criminalises making, adapting, supplying or offering to supply such tools, and helps to tackle a growing form of online abuse that disproportionately affects women and girls, as mentioned throughout the debate. Those measures build on wider action to combat image-based abuse and ensure that those who create or facilitate such harmful content can be held to account. In addition, the Government have commenced the Protection from Sex-based Harassment in Public Act 2023, which has already seen perpetrators brought to justice. In response to the question about the commencement of the Crime and Policing Act, I assure Members that the Government are going as quickly as possible. We are working across Government, particularly with the Ministry of Justice, and hopefully we can get that through as quickly as possible.
7 Sept 2026 · Hate Crime Law: Misogyny · Hansard source
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As the Home Secretary said during her statement to the House last week, it will form part of the ongoing policing reform. That will naturally have an impact on how regional and local areas are funded, and that is right and proper.
7 Sept 2026 · Hate Crime Law: Misogyny · Hansard source
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I am more than happy to arrange a meeting with the relevant policing Minister to ensure that that is explored fully. Before I conclude, I want to cover the other issues that have been raised. On data gaps and reporting, I want to highlight that the Enough campaign is bearing fruit, but it is obviously a big piece of work. Specialist VAWG teams are also going into local areas, and a part of their role is ensuring that local police forces work with local communities so that there is an uptick in reporting, which must be taken more seriously to help address data gaps, because we know that is an ongoing concern. I was asked about conversations with police forces, and those are ongoing. The hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) has left the Chamber, but he mentioned what happened to the female protester at the Reform conference. That was disgusting and unacceptable, and I know that the police are encouraging the victim to come forward; I feel we should all do the same to ensure that justice is done.
7 Sept 2026 · Hate Crime Law: Misogyny · Hansard source
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As I said earlier, it is useful for Members to understand the context—what is already happening and how we built to that—before I directly address the call from the petition. To further support our collective efforts, our cross-Government violence against women and girls strategy was published in December 2025. Actions include making the UK one of the hardest places for children to access harmful online content and misogynistic influences. We are doing that through our online safety regime and by banning under-16s from major social media platforms, backed by one of the toughest enforcement regimes in the world. We will always seek to go further where we can, with a focus on preventing rather than just reacting. The Ministry of Justice will launch a call for evidence to better understand online misogynistic image-based abuse. In addition, the Department for Education has updated relationships, sex and health education curriculums, which now include teaching on online safety and awareness, healthy relationships and positive role models. Hon. Members talked about a whole societal shift. It is important that we focus on prevention, so I welcome that. Guidance and resources will be provided to support hard-working teachers to recognise the signs of ideologies so that we can intervene swiftly and effectively. The higher education regulator has introduced strict new requirements that will ensure that every university works to prevent, address and investigate any incidents of sexual harassment and abuse affecting its students. To help address the issue that many people who engage in harmful behaviour do not always recognise their actions as abusive, we have developed a cross-Government behaviour change campaign called Enough. A few Members mentioned people not recognising what is not okay, and also the evidence gap and lack of reporting. It is really important that this campaign explicitly helps people in all walks of life—both victims and perpetrators—to recognise what is and is not acceptable. I will directly address the petition’s call for misogyny to be recognised more broadly in the hate crime framework beyond the changes already made through the Crime and Policing Act. Although I cannot commit the Government to such changes today, we must always ensure that the hate crime framework is fit for purpose. It is right to mention alternative views, such as those from the Law Commission’s 2021 review, which concluded that adding sex or gender to the existing hate crime framework would not necessarily provide the most effective response in tackling violence against women and girls, and cautioned that reform in this area could have unintended consequences. Hon. Members will be aware that the Home Secretary commissioned Lord Macdonald in October 2025 to undertake an independent review to consider whether public order and hate crime legislation remains effective. The review engaged extensively with stakeholders from across civil society, academia and community organisations to ensure that a wide range of perspectives informed its conclusions. Lord Macdonald has submitted his final report, which the Government is currently considering, and a response will follow in due course. It is right and fitting that the review’s conclusions help to underpin decision making on any further changes to the hate crime framework and how best to protect women and girls. On the broader calls from petitioners about tackling violence against women and girls, we know that legislation is an important part, but only one part, of the solution, and cannot tackle violence against women and girls on its own. We must also prevent offending, challenge harmful attitudes, support victims and improve criminal justice responses. We want women and girls to have the confidence to come forward and report crimes while knowing that they will be taken seriously, treated with respect and supported to secure justice. This Government are meeting the petition’s request to fund support for victims and the training to support it. A few Members mentioned training and funding, and I reassure them that training is being expanded and that specialist VAWG teams are being rolled out to all local police forces. The deadline for that was brought forward by the Prime Minister only a couple of weeks ago. This year, the Home Office is investing more than £13.9 million in the national centre for VAWG and public protection to help ensure that all victims receive the right response. That is part of the Government’s wider investment of over £1 billion to support victims of VAWG, including nearly £500 million for local authorities to provide support in safe accommodation to victims of domestic abuse in Middlesbrough and across the country—I thank the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer) for raising that issue. More than £550 million will be invested across justice to pay for counselling, court guidance and children’s services to support victims. Up to £50 million will also be invested in therapeutic support for child victims of sexual abuse, alongside a further £5 million to support victims of VAWG.
25 Jun 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme: Insourcing · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is right to highlight that outsourcing by default does not work, and I agree with his assessment of Capita’s unacceptable failures. Our priority remains supporting those impacted and achieving full service recovery. As I mentioned, if Capita fails to deliver on that by the end of June, all options will be considered. Subject to your agreement, Mr Speaker, my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General intends to make a statement to the House on the Government’s next steps.
25 Jun 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme: Insourcing · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for his engagement on this issue, which we have spoken about several times; he is a powerful advocate for his constituents. He will understand that we are currently prioritising and focusing on immediate service recovery. If Capita fails to restore core pension functions to contractual levels by the end of June, we will consider all available options to rectify the situation. We are preparing and planning for all eventualities.
25 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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of course I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that matter. We will be launching the national school of government, which will ensure that we have a civil service fit for purpose, not only for the current challenges but for the challenges of the future.
25 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The hon. Lady is absolutely right that the situation is completely unacceptable. I offer my support to her and her constituents in any way that I can. When I met representatives from Capita last week, they said that they want to under-promise and over-deliver. Clearly Capita has failed badly at that, but it has until the end of June to ensure that its services are delivered at an acceptable level. If it fails at that, we will use all options available. We are holding it robustly to account. Capita initially promised that all death in service and ill health cases were resolved, but that is not the case, and I am happy to take up the cases the hon. Lady mentions.
25 Jun 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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I met Capita’s senior leadership last Wednesday, and told them directly that their operational failures, missed targets and escalating backlog are completely unacceptable. The Cabinet Office continues to monitor performance daily to hold Capita to account robustly. Capita has until the end of June to restore the service to contractual levels.
25 Jun 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the situation is unacceptable. If she contacts me about her constituents’ cases, I will be more than happy to take them up. As I have said, Capita has a strict deadline at the end of June. The Government have been robust in holding it to account. We will use all our commercial levers, and all options will be considered. After June, and with Mr Speaker’s permission, my colleague the Paymaster General intends make a statement to the House. As with the Royal Mail contract, we will not hesitate to hold Capita to account and let it feel the consequences of its actions.
25 Jun 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman is completely right: those who have given a lifetime of service expect and deserve better. The Cabinet Office has held Capita to account robustly, using all commercial levers. Capita has a strict end-of-June deadline. If it fails to meet that deadline, we will consider all options. With your agreement, Mr Speaker, the Paymaster General intends to make a statement to the House about this issue at the end of the month.
23 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The Government have taken robust action through our Public Sector Fraud Authority. There is a huge amount of work being done. In fact, last year we saved the public purse more than £7.5 billion. A lot has been done, but there is lots more to do, and I am happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that further.
23 Apr 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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The issues and delays that a number of civil servants and pension scheme members have encountered when accessing their pensions after a lifetime of service are completely unacceptable. Members of the House will have heard my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General’s statement to the House yesterday on the Government’s robust recovery plan to stabilise the service, while ensuring that support is in place for those impacted. We will continue to use every commercial lever possible to hold Capita to account so that public servants get the quality service they deserve as soon as possible.
23 Apr 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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I thank the hon. Member for raising both of those distressing cases, and I would of course be happy to meet her to discuss them.
23 Apr 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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I also wish my hon. Friend a happy Warwickshire day and a happy St George’s day. I thank her constituent Jillian for her public service of 34 years. I agree with my hon. Friend that the service that Jillian has experienced is completely unacceptable. My hon. Friend will know that we have taken a number of measures, including deploying a surge team to help stabilise the service, and we continue to hold Capita to account for poor service. I encourage her and other Members to direct affected constituents to the hardship loans we have made available to support those impacted. If she sends me the details of Jillian’s case, I will make sure to look out for them.
23 Apr 2026 · Civil Service: Performance Management Plans · Hansard source
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I think it is ironic that Opposition Members complain about civil servants but did nothing when they were in power. Instead, this Government are updating the performance management framework, incentivising those who deliver and tackling underperformance as soon as it arises. To do this, we are changing the rules to ensure a closer, more effective link between pay and performance, with larger awards for the highest performers, and strengthening the minimum standards so that those who fail to manage the performance of their teams are quickly identified.
23 Apr 2026 · Civil Service: Performance Management Plans · Hansard source
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Departments are responsible for setting their own performance plans, subject to centrally set performance management frameworks. This Government are focused on a high-performing civil service, which is why we have recently announced changes to the senior civil service performance system that will see the performance of top civil servants linked to key performance indicators set by their Ministers, and underperformers held to tougher standards.
11 Mar 2026 · Public Body Data Collection: Sikh and Jewish Ethnicity · Hansard source
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I am happy to take that away. I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important topic, and for her ongoing hard work advocating for the Sikh and Jewish communities. I am keen to emphasise that whether Sikh and Jewish ethnicity tick boxes should be introduced is an open question. I reassure my hon. Friend that a clear and credible procedure is in place to make an informed decision. The Government should not and will not pre-empt the ONS’s ongoing, independent and impartial piece of work. That means we all eagerly await the publication of the Government Statistical Service’s findings this autumn, at which point I anticipate that she and I will be in regular contact about the next steps, based on the ONS’s findings. Question put and agreed to.
11 Mar 2026 · Public Body Data Collection: Sikh and Jewish Ethnicity · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Edgbaston (Preet Kaur Gill) for tabling this important debate, and I thank other Members for joining us. Over many years my hon. Friend has championed the rights of Sikh and Jewish communities. Those communities contribute so much to British life, and both our families are great examples of that. The science of statistics helps us to understand the world and our place in it. As my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Edgbaston has made clear, that is particularly the case for minority groups, who so often feel unseen and unheard by their Government. We should always strive to identify data gaps that need addressing. The issues raised today regarding Sikh and Jewish data, and the impact of data gaps relating to those groups, could not be more relevant or timely. As we speak, these topics are under active consideration by the Government Statistical Service as part of its review of the harmonisation of ethnicity standards. That is a critical process. I know that my hon. Friend and I will follow its progress closely and look forward to reading its findings when they are published in the autumn. My hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Edgbaston eloquently set out the impact of the current data gaps regarding Sikh and Jewish communities. As she mentioned, those became particularly apparent during covid and in administering other public services. That is at the heart of this debate, and the Government are committed to serving all our minority communities. My hon. Friend and other Members can be reassured that, as part of the review, the ONS has committed to looking at adding more ethnicity tick boxes, including options for Sikhs and Jews. As my hon. Friend is aware, as part of the review the ONS held an open consultation between October 2025 and February 2026. The general public and all Government Departments, including the Government Statistical Service, were invited to respond to the consultation. The heads of profession for statistics in every Department were contacted on the day the consultation launched and again in January, a month before it closed. The ONS has committed to publishing all the submissions it received in April. I have personally asked the ONS to contact my hon. Friend directly when the information is available, as she has raised concerns about when that will happen. Additionally, as part of the consultation process, the ONS engaged with key leaders in the Jewish and Sikh communities, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Health and Care Jewish Staff Network, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, the Jewish Association for Mental Illness, the Sikh Federation UK and the Supreme Sikh Council UK. Now that the consultation has closed, the submissions are being analysed. Last week, the Government Statistical Service published the evaluation criteria for assessing the proposed new tick-box response options. The three headline criteria are the strength of user need, the lack of alternative sources, and acceptability, clarity and data quality. I hear my hon. Friend’s concerns about these being the same as before. I have spoken directly with the chair of the UK Statistics Authority and the permanent secretary of the ONS on the specific matter of Sikh and Jewish ethnicity tick boxes, and I have been assured that this will be considered as part of the review. I have further been assured—and I am confident of this—that at this stage the option to add tick boxes for Sikhs and Jews as ethnic groups is an open question and that the ONS will reach an impartial, evidence-based decision. My hon. Friend mentioned the ethnicity pay gap, which I am happy to take away. On the issue of legality, the Equality Act 2010 and the public sector equality duty are key components of the Government Statistical Service review, and the user need for data to support equality monitoring for protected characteristic features predominantly in the evaluation criteria. Under the Equality Act, race is defined to include colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origins. That means that, under the Act, Sikhs and Jews are a racial group by reference to their ethnic origins. Both are also religious groups under the Act. Let me be clear: the Government, the ONS and the Government Statistical Service all recognise that, as my hon. Friend highlighted, Sikh identity and Jewish identity are ethnic as well as religious identities. It is important to clarify that the Act does not specify particular ethnicities as being protected. Apart from anything else, that would mean that we live in a country that has unprotected ethnic groups. I am sure my hon. Friend would join me in agreeing that that would be completely unacceptable. In fact, the Equality Act provides protection to everybody on the basis of their ethnicity, and of their religion or lack of religion. The Act protects all ethnicities, not some over others. However, protection under the Act does not legally mandate the inclusion of a tick-box option for data collection purposes. Indeed, there are many other ethnicities—hundreds, in fact—all of which are recognised by the Government, that also do not have a tick box, such as Kurdish, Persian and Hispanic/Latino. Because there are so many ethnic groups that do not have their own tick box, individuals are given the option to write their ethnicity. In the 2021 census, 287 different ethnicities were recorded and published. Tick-box response options in the survey form simply cannot include all the ethnic groups, which is why the tick-box option should never be seen as a list of official or recognised ethnicities. As I have set out, decisions on tick boxes involve a number of factors, including user need for the data, data quality, public acceptability, clarity for respondents, and the impact on comparability of data over time. I hear what my hon. Friend said about the need and the possible gaps, which is why the ONS is analysing and considering this issue as part of its review. It will publish it findings in the autumn, which she, I and other Members keenly await—alongside many in the Jewish and Sikh communities, as she mentioned—and we will go from there. I thank my hon. Friend and other Members for raising the important issue of hate crime. We are united in our determination to tackle these abhorrent crimes in the UK. Everyone in this country deserves to feel safe and live their lives free from violence. My hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Edgbaston will know that the UK Government Statistical Service is decentralised. How hate crimes are recorded is determined by the police, not the ONS. It is something I strongly encourage her to raise directly with the Home Office, as I know she already is.
5 Mar 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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The priority right now is to ensure that the robust recovery plan is completed and that we get a normal service as quickly as possible. Of course, we will continue to update the House.
5 Mar 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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I understand my hon. Friend’s frustration. She will know that the contract was awarded under the previous Government in 2023. I reassure her that existing key performance indicators have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver tighter performance expectations, with higher penalties for severe failures. Those have already been applied to recent issues and delays in Capita’s administration of the civil service pension scheme.
5 Mar 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions after a lifetime of service is completely unacceptable. The Government are overseeing a robust recovery plan for the service and are ensuring that support is available to help those impacted. My right hon. Friend the Paymaster General has met the chief executive of Capita to set out what the Government expect, and we will do all we can to hold Capita to account to deliver the high standards that people deserve.
5 Mar 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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As I have said, the contract was awarded under the previous Government. We have the right to hold Capita to account, which we are doing. I am sorry to hear of the difficulties and distress that the hon. Gentleman’s constituents are facing. I encourage him and all Members to contact me and my team about such matters so that we can look into and resolve them as quickly as possible.
5 Mar 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme · Hansard source
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I will of course meet my hon. Friend to discuss Stephen’s case and resolve it as quickly as possible.

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