Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 22 November 2024 (HL2411), what was the cost of procuring and erecting the bisexual flags; and which Minister authorised the decision to fly them.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

In 2024, to mark Bisexual Awareness Week, the FCDO flew two bisexual flags within the grounds of its London headquarters. These flags were purchased in 2021 for £285.93 each to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the lifting of the ban on LGBT+ people serving in the Diplomatic Service. The then Permanent Under Secretary of the FCDO approved the flying of the flags on the internal courtyard flag poles.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 9 October 2024 (HL1031), how equality, diversity and inclusion principles are embedded in the duties of NHS staff; and whether they are included in staff contracts, and reflected in the assessment of bonuses, promotion, or performance.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We expect National Health Service organisations to implement policies and procedures that are in line with employment law and good human resources practice, including the Equality Act 2010 and other relevant legislation.

NHS leaders are responsible for setting the tone and culture of their organisation, and that is why NHS England’s equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) improvement plan does require chairs, chief executives, and board members to have distinct objectives on improving inclusion in their organisation. There is no national directive to embed EDI duties in staff contracts or systems for pay and performance.

It is right that the NHS addresses prejudice and discrimination where it exists across the NHS workforce, and that staff feel more empowered to tackle health inequalities and deliver great care and patient experience.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 November 2024 (HL1879), whether they will issue guidance to NHS England and NHS Trusts on reducing equality, diversity and inclusion spending to help deliver the 2-percent administration savings announced at Budget 2024.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance was published on 14 May 2024, and required all departments and arm's length bodies to set controls on all equality, diversity, and inclusion related expenditure. No further guidance was issued by the Department to National Health Service trusts.

The Government is committed to creating a fair health system that tackles health inequalities effectively, whilst deriving maximum value from taxpayers’ money.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the review of devolution and local government will impact any plans to (1) publish the job entry and sustainability rates for Jobcentre Plus and its contractors, and (2) merge JobCentre Plus and the National Careers Service.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP is always exploring ways to publish more information to enrich the public discourse.

DWP published new analysis of Universal Credit (UC) into-work rates and flows between conditionality groups - including what proportion did not flow out of the UC “Searching for work” labour market regime, over a six month period, as part of the recent Get Britain Working White Paper here.

Plans are being developed for regular and proportional update to this analysis.

Additionally, statistics and management information on contracted employment provisions such as Restart and the Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) interventions are published on Gov.UK (Restart Scheme statistics to October 2024 - GOV.UK, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) Management Information, April 2021 to March 2024 - GOV.UK).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the job entry and sustainability rates for Jobcentre Plus and its contractors.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP is always exploring ways to publish more information to enrich the public discourse.

DWP published new analysis of Universal Credit (UC) into-work rates and flows between conditionality groups - including what proportion did not flow out of the UC “Searching for work” labour market regime, over a six month period, as part of the recent Get Britain Working White Paper here.

Plans are being developed for regular and proportional update to this analysis.

Additionally, statistics and management information on contracted employment provisions such as Restart and the Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) interventions are published on Gov.UK (Restart Scheme statistics to October 2024 - GOV.UK, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) Management Information, April 2021 to March 2024 - GOV.UK).

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made in the merger of Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers. We will design, develop, and test options for the new service in partnership with key stakeholders as we move into policy design and delivery.

As a first step to better integrate employment support and careers advice in England, we will launch a pathfinder in early 2025 to test more enhanced collaboration between Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service. The department has also worked with the Department for Education to put in place a new agreement on data sharing between the National Careers Service and Jobcentre Plus in England. This will be used to encourage closer co-operation in the collective delivery of jobs and careers guidance for adults and promote a simpler and more streamlined process for our customers. Joining up the support a customer receives from both a work coach and national careers advisor can remove unnecessary repetition, link up advice and ensure holistic support for the customer to help improve outcomes.

We currently have two large scale trials in progress contributing towards our vision for the new jobs and careers service. The first, to test providing support for people by telephone and video as well as face to face appointments. The second, to test whether meeting unemployed people less frequently in a Jobcentre would have an impact on their work outcomes and whether this approach is more beneficial for particular groups.