Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans there are, if any, for (1) the asexual, and (2) the aromantic pride flags, to be displayed at 10 Downing Street.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There are currently no plans to display the asexual and aromantic pride flags at 10 Downing Street.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 15 October (HC7508), whether (1) the transgender pride flag, and (2) the bisexual pride flag, benefit from deemed consent under Class 7 of Schedule 3 to The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisement) (England) Regulations 2007; and whether this is reflected in any guidance issued.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Flag advertisements which benefit from deemed consent are set out in Class 7 of Schedule 3 to The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisement) (England) Regulations 2007. Guidance is set out in Flying flags: A plain English guide.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the decision to display bisexual pride flags at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for Bisexual Awareness Week in September, whether an equality impact assessment or analysis was produced to assess the impact on people of other sexual orientations or gender identities; and what plans they have to display other pride flags within the next 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The FCDO is committed to championing the rights of LGBT+ individuals globally. This year, for Bisexual Awareness Week, the FCDO flew the Bisexual flag within the grounds of our HQ in London to show support to our colleagues. An equalities assessment was made against our Public Sector Equality Duty commitments which concluded that this would raise awareness and promote tolerance. The FCDO stands for inclusivity, diversity and acceptance, both at home and abroad. We celebrate the diversity of our staff throughout the year and recognise various anniversaries, events or international days which can include flying flags or lighting up the FCDO in relevant colours.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide funding for the 20 additional towns added to the Long Term Plan for Towns at the Spring Budget.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
As set out at Autumn Budget, the Long-Term Plan for Towns will be retained and reformed, as part of a new regeneration programme.
The 75 places across the UK that were previously selected to receive funding under the Long-Term Plan for Towns will receive up to £20 million of funding and support over the next decade.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, when developing and implementing (1) health care, and (2) equalities policies, it is the position of (a) the Government, and (b) NHS England, that men can get pregnant.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is not the position of the Government, or NHS England, that a person whose biological sex is male can get pregnant.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Centre for Perioperative Care's CPOC Manifesto: A Blueprint for NHS Efficiency, published on 12 April, in the light of the review of the NHS by Lord Darzi of Denham.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In light of the review of the National Health Service by Professor Lord Darzi, which highlights the importance of driving productivity in hospitals, the Government welcomes the manifesto of the Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) and will consider its recommendations. The Government is already working with NHS England to improve perioperative care, which can reduce length of stay, improve patient outcomes, and increase productivity. In May 2023, NHS England published guidance setting out five core perioperative care requirements relating to the care of adult patients awaiting planned inpatient surgery. These measures address the key objective of identifying health needs as early as possible in perioperative pathways, and then using time on the waiting list to optimise health, through optimisation of both existing health conditions and of health-related behaviour. NHS England is working to oversee and support implementation, and will continue to do so throughout 2024/25. In addition, NHS England is also undertaking work on other areas addressed in the CPOC manifesto such as drinking, eating, and mobilising after surgery.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 7 August (HL345), how many staffing hours are allocated to the Civil Service LGBT+ Network, and across how many staff members.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Allocation of working time spent on cross-government staff networks is an agreement between the staff network volunteers and their departments as employers.
The majority of staff time spent on the Civil Service LGBT+ Network is voluntary and unpaid. There are no central records on how many staff members participate in the network.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 12 August (HL517), what applications for an equality, diversity and inclusion spending control exemption have been (1) applied for, (2) accepted, and (3) rejected, since the general election.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Applications and decisions about applications for external Equality Diversity and Inclusion expenditure lie with individual departments. No exemptions have been centrally reported since the General Election.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 7 August (HL344), whether any of the civil servants claiming diversity network time are also claiming trade union facility time, and at what hourly amounts; and what is their policy on the double dipping of network time and facility time.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There are fewer than 5 individuals in DWP in September 2024 who are claiming Trade Union (TU) Facility time and Diversity Network time.
In line with standard departmental practice in statistics, we do not publish details of numbers below 5, or where individuals might otherwise be identified in the data, as this would breach our data protection obligations.
DWP does not have a policy on colleagues claiming both Diversity Network Time and Facility Time at the same time.
Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 12 August (HL426), whether the Ministry of Justice has received such representations from the Public and Commercial Services Union; and what was their response.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Public and Commercial Services Union has not made any representations to the Ministry of Justice regarding this motion and therefore no response was given.