Asked by: Apsana Begum (Independent - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department took to mark Islamophobia Awareness month in November 2020.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government notes Islamophobia Awareness Month but takes the view that combatting Islamophobia is not a time-limited task and such thinking and behaviour should be tackled whenever it occurs. For that reason we continue to work closely with Muslim communities to tackle hate against them, including understanding issues and trends. This includes supporting Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) with just over £2.8m distributed over the last five years to monitor, combat and raise awareness of anti-Muslim hatred.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on accessibility on the rail network.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Officials in my Department have recently been in discussions with the Department for Transport on its Transport Regulatory Review, in which the Government Equalities Office and the wider Equalities Hub has an interest, particularly in relation to disability.
This builds on publication in 2018 of our Inclusive Transport Strategy which sets out what we are doing to improve access across all transport modes and we will continue to seek further improvements.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding they have provided to those researching the gender impact of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Office for National Statistics and Public Health England are government-funded bodies that are conducting research and analysis to understand gender impacts of COVID-19. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is also funding work in this area, such as adapting existing longitudinal studies to cover covid impacts, and running an open call for research proposals on covid-19. In addition, the Government Equalities Office has commissioned a survey under its existing Gender and Behavioural Insights research programme to measure the impact of the changes in the uptake of flexible working on gender equality within households and the workplace.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what assessment has been made of the time available to members of the House to participate in (1) Private Notice Questions, and (2) urgent questions from the House of Commons repeated as statements, which are being considered in Virtual Proceedings; and what plans there are to change the time available.
Answered by Lord McFall of Alcluith
The Procedure Committee agreed on 11 May that the time allowed for a Private Notice Question should be increased from ten minutes to fifteen minutes. This change was approved by the House on 14 May. The allocation of time for the answers to Urgent Questions in the House of Commons repeated in the form of Oral Statements remains as if it were taking place in the Chamber, and there are currently no plans to extend the time allowed for these. The Procedure Committee will continue to keep these arrangements under review.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask Her Majesty's Government under which circumstances a service provider may require a person to provide a gender recognition certificate as a condition of providing services.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
A Gender Recognition Certificate is a private, legal document which a person would not usually be required to produce as a condition of accessing services, in the same way that a person would not usually be asked to produce their birth certificate. If evidence of gender is required to access a service, it will normally be possible to provide it in the form of other documents, for example a driving licence or a passport.
The Equality Act allows service providers to offer services to one sex only, for example men’s or women’s toilets or changing rooms. Transgender people can be excluded from single-sex facilities if service providers have a legitimate reason for doing so and if exclusion is the least discriminatory way to proceed.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker what support is available to support new House of Lords and bicameral staff to learn English.
Answered by Lord McFall of Alcluith
The House of Lords Administration has partnered with the House of Commons to offer an English Language course to staff of both Houses and bicameral staff. The programme is provided by West London College and runs for 13 weeks, from 10 January 2020 to 3 April 2020. The Administration has marketed this course to staff in Property and Office and Catering & Retail Services where there is high representation of people for whom English is not their first language. Depending on evaluation of the course, it may run again in 2020.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker whether the Services Committee intends to review the methodology used by any food safety auditors who were tasked with evaluating the House of Lords Bishop’s Bar.
Answered by Lord Laming
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee to respond to these questions on his behalf.
Under the definition in the Approved Code of Practice, the Bishops’ Bar would not be considered a “confined space”, a term which should not be confused with a small space. When the Services Committee considered the required changes to the Bishops’ Bar in July, it accepted that the Administration had a duty of care towards staff working in the outlet and that the current conditions for food preparation were unsuitable.
We have no record of any incidents of food poisoning as a result of food consumed from the House of Lords Bishops’ Bar between 2009 and October 2019.
The Services Committee has no plans to review the methodology used by the food safety auditors who evaluated the Bishops’ Bar.