Written questions by Whittome.

What steps her Department is taking in schools to (a) tackle misogyny and (b) ensure girls' safety.

Schools and colleges are under a legal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children and must have regard to ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE), which is the department’s statutory safeguarding guidance. KCSIE contains information about child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment, as well as guidance on managing reports of child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment. Every pupil deserves to learn in a safe, calm classroom and the department will always support its hard working and dedicated teachers to make this happen. Schools should be clear in every aspect of their culture that sexism, sexual violence and sexual harassment are never acceptable and will not be tolerated. The statutory guidance for Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) emphasises that schools should be alert to issues such as everyday sexism, misogyny, homophobia and gender stereotypes and take positive action to build a culture where these are not tolerated, with any occurrences identified and tackled. Schools should make clear that sexism, sexual violence and sexual harassment are not acceptable, will never be tolerated and are not an inevitable part of growing up. The full RSHE guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education. Schools should consider what they can do to foster healthy and respectful peer-to-peer communication and behaviour between boys and girls and provide an environment which challenges perceived limits on pupils based on their gender or any other characteristic. The department is currently reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance for schools and, as such, the government will look carefully at the consultation responses, discuss with stakeholders and consider the relevant evidence, including the Cass Review which has since been published, before setting out next steps.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of creating a visa waiver scheme for Palestinians requiring urgent medical treatment.

Currently, those seeking to come to the UK for private medical treatment, along with their family members, can apply for a visitor visa and consideration will be given to compelling, compassionate and exceptional circumstances.It should be noted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) position is that people who are medically evacuated should stay as close to home as possible, so that they remain amongst those who are more likely to understand their language and culture, and so that their return home, when ready, is easier.

What recent assessment she has made of the level of the risk of (a) discrimination, (b) harassment and (c) violence towards LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum in immigration detention centres.

It is vital that detention and removal are carried out with dignity and respect, and we take the welfare and safety of people in our care very seriously. We will not tolerate any form of discrimination against those who are detained in our immigration removal estate. We keep the level of risk under regular review and will take robust action against anyone who is found not to have behaved appropriately. In order to effectively support individuals in immigration detention that identify as LGBT+ there is detailed published guidance for all staff working in immigration removal centres (IRCs). Detention Services Orders 2/2016 ‘Lesbian, gay and bisexual detainees in the detention estate’ and 11/2012 ‘Care and Management of Transsexual Detainees’ set out the actions and safeguarding processes that are undertaken in IRCs to ensure that the needs of LGBT+ individuals are identified and appropriately met.