Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are actively considering a 14-day quarantine period for travellers arriving in the UK; and whether such a quarantine is in line with the latest medical advice.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Regulations to require international arrivals to self-isolate for 14 days when they arrive in the United Kingdom have now been laid, they will come into force on 8 June. The quarantine system is designed to keep the transmission rate of COVID-19 low in the UK, stop new cases being brought in from abroad and help prevent a second wave of COVID-19. The scientific advice is clear - it tells us that COVID-19 cases entering the UK from abroad matter most when the UK has a low level of infection.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish a summary of the advice and scientific evidence from Public Health England on the utility of health screening at airports during the current phase of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Transparency, including on the evidence informing the views of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), is vital in helping to maintain the public’s trust and grow our collective understanding of the disease, while also helping to explain how scientific advice to the Government is being formed. The Government is working to publish evidence documents and studies, including from Public Health England, which have formed the basis of SAGE’s discussions and advice to Ministers, regularly, and will publish more evidence in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions Ministers have had with their European counterparts and the European Commission on agreeing a common baseline for health measures in international travel by air, sea and train.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The United Kingdom is engaging with a number of key international organisations, including the European Civil Aviation Conference, and we are working with our international partners to drive forward a shared agenda on public health measures for international travel. The Department for Transport is working with industry to explore potential public health measures for the sector, including those proposed by our European partners.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Fawcett Society Sex and Power 2020, published on 13 January; and what steps they are taking to address the reported inequality in senior jobs held in the UK by women and minority groups.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford
We have noted this report and will take its findings into consideration. It is vital that women and all ethnicities are able to fully contribute across politics, public life and all business sectors. Progress is being made, but there is more to do. Companies with diverse workforces perform better and an inclusive economic policy is vital to the success of our Industrial Strategy.
We urge our largest companies to lead from the front on this issue, to reap the economic and social benefits, by taking up the recommendations of the Government commissioned and supported Hampton-Alexander and Parker Reviews, championing greater leadership diversity.
Women now hold a higher percentage of senior leadership positions than ever before, with over 30% female board members across the FTSE350 for the first time and no all-male boards in the FTSE100. We surveyed FTSE350 companies last year to take stock of the ethnic diversity of their boards and will be publishing the results early this year.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce legislation to address the ethnicity pay gap; and if so, when such legislation will be introduced.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Government ran a consultation from October 2018 to January 2019 on Ethnicity Pay Reporting and received over 300 detailed responses. BEIS Ministers and officials have met with businesses and representative organisations to understand the barriers towards reporting and what information could be published to allow for meaningful action to be taken. We have also run voluntary methodology testing with a broad range of businesses to better understand the complexities outlined in the consultation using real payroll data and will share next steps in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to change the provision of free childcare for children from when they are born.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government is committed to making childcare more affordable and more accessible. We plan to spend around £3.5 billion on our early education entitlements this year alone – more than any previous government. All 3 and 4-year-olds and the most disadvantaged 2-year-olds can access 15 hours a week of early education. From September 2017, this government doubled the childcare entitlement for eligible working parents of 3 and 4-year-olds to 30 hours a week. Tax-Free Childcare provides additional financial help from government to help with any additional costs, worth up to £2,000 per child per year for children under 12 (or up to £4,000 per year for disabled children under 17). Those parents in receipt of Universal Credit can claim up to 85% of their childcare costs. The Childcare Choices website supports families’ understanding of what might be available to them. This can be found at: www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. The government has no plans to extend the package of free childcare to children from birth.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the diversity of public appointees.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government is committed to improving diversity in public appointments and has made good progress. Between 2015/16 and 2017/18, the number of appointments (including re-appointments) made to women rose from 45% to 48% and to those with a declared disability from 4% to 7%. In 2017/2018 appointments to candidates from a BAME background (where declared) were at 8.4%.
But there is still more to do. We have carefully considered the recommendations put forward by Lord Holmes of Richmond in his review. As I set out in my response to my Noble friend’s Oral question in 09 May, we are aiming to publish our response to his review’s recommendations, together with a refreshed Public Appointment Diversity Action Plan, around the end of June.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to implement the recommendations of the review conducted by Lord Holmes of Richmond Opening up public appointments to disabled people, published in December 2018.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government is committed to improving diversity in public appointments and has made good progress. Between 2015/16 and 2017/18, the number of appointments (including re-appointments) made to women rose from 45% to 48% and to those with a declared disability from 4% to 7%. In 2017/2018 appointments to candidates from a BAME background (where declared) were at 8.4%.
But there is still more to do. We have carefully considered the recommendations put forward by Lord Holmes of Richmond in his review. As I set out in my response to my Noble friend’s Oral question in 09 May, we are aiming to publish our response to his review’s recommendations, together with a refreshed Public Appointment Diversity Action Plan, around the end of June.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce the mandatory reporting of ethnicity pay gaps for companies operating in the UK.
Answered by Lord Henley
My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister committed to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay reporting and consulted on how to do so. We received over 300 detailed responses to the consultation. We are working with stakeholders to understand how best to take forward the proposals and will announce next steps in due course. We are also grateful for your continuing support in helping us progress this important agenda.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish the results of the consultation on ethnicity pay reporting, which closed on 11 January.
Answered by Lord Henley
My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister committed to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay reporting and consulted on how to do so. We received over 300 detailed responses to the consultation. We are working with stakeholders to understand how best to take forward the proposals and will announce next steps in due course. We are also grateful for your continuing support in helping us progress this important agenda.