Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and John Bercow

Monday 6th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Caroline Dinenage)]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to point out that our early years workforce is one of our greatest assets. We will shortly be releasing a workforce strategy, which will outline how we want to improve what already exists. We need to help employers to attract, to retain and to develop their staff to deliver the very highest quality of early years provision.

[Mr Speaker]

Short questions and short answers, please.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and John Bercow

Thursday 2nd February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I thought it was 1970. [Interruption.] Anyway, we are agreed that it is a long-standing statute.

[Caroline Dinenage]

Yes, I think we can all agree that it has been a long old time. My right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Sir Simon Burns) is right to point this out. We have legislation that stops people being paid differently for doing the same job, but what drives the gender pay gap is the fact that girls tend to go into lower paid sectors compared with men and, of course, the pay gap really kicks in at around 30 and 40 when women leave work to have children and may not be supported back into the workplace as well as we would want. That is why gender pay gap reporting is so vital.

[Mr Speaker]

We are all now better informed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and John Bercow

Monday 14th November 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Equalities (Caroline Dinenage)]

With your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to link Question 5 with Question 15. Maintained nursery schools make a very important contribution to social mobility. We want them to be sustainable in the long term. We have already committed £55 million a year of supplementary funding for maintained nursery schools for at least the next two years, and we will shortly be consulting them on how to do this further.

[Mr Speaker]

Forgive me, but I think the grouping is with Question 17 rather than Question 15—not that I wish to be pedantic; I just wish to be precise. [Interruption.] I think I have the advantage of being correct in this case, incredible though the hon. Lady may judge that to be.

[Andrew Stephenson]

I met Jan Holmes, the headteacher of Walton Lane Nursery, and many other Pendle nursery headteachers recently. Further to many of the points that have already been made, will my hon. Friend commit to extending the funding for maintained nursery schools beyond the two years indicated in the consultation, as nursery schools really do make a difference to some of the poorest children in my constituency?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Caroline Dinenage)]

I will be more than happy to.

[Mr Speaker]

Splendidly succinct.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and John Bercow

Thursday 26th May 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

This is in relation to those in prison, having been found guilty of child neglect and abuse—it is fair to say that it is a testing question.

[Caroline Dinenage]

I am not aware that birth control is a massive issue within women’s prisons—I certainly hope it is not, but I will take a look at that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and John Bercow

Tuesday 26th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to the Hillsborough report. I understand that the Home Secretary will make a statement on that tomorrow.

The hon. Lady is right to say that every self-inflicted death in prison is an absolute tragedy. We are committing to reduce the number of self-inflicted deaths in prison. There have been no more this year than there were last year, but every single one is absolutely a tragedy. We will overhaul how mental health is treated in prisons, giving governors a much greater say over what services their prisoners need and how the available budget is used. However, it was Labour’s inexplicable refusal to introduce waiting times for mental health care at the same time as introducing them for physical healthcare that set back the cause of mental health for so many years, and in some cases saw people being sentenced to prison in order to access the support that they could not get in the community.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am very disappointed that the Secretary of State is not sitting at the very heart of his ministerial team. I hope the right hon. Gentleman is not lurking uncharacteristically in the shadows—we would not want that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and John Bercow

Thursday 25th February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Caroline Dinenage]

Julie Deane is an incredibly inspiring example of the great female entrepreneurs we have here in the UK, and about a million of our small and medium-sized enterprises are indeed led by women, contributing an incredible £85 billion to the British economy. Julie has made some wide-ranging recommendations as part of her review into self-employment. I know that my hon. Friend has been involved in those recommendations, and they will be considered very carefully by the Government.

[Mr Speaker]

I ask the Minister to face the House. I understand that her questioner is behind her, but she should face the House.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and John Bercow

Tuesday 8th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Equalities and Family Justice (Caroline Dinenage)]

We take every death in custody very seriously. The management and care of transgender people in prison is complex, and the Government take it very seriously. The National Offender Management Service is undertaking a review of the relevant Prison Service instruction to ensure that it provides an appropriate balance between the needs of the individual, and the responsibility to manage the risk and safeguard all prisoners. I can announce today that the review will be widened to consider what improvements we can make across prisons, probation and youth justice regarding the future shape of services for trans prisoners and offenders. The review will engage with relevant stakeholders, and Peter Dawson from the Prison Reform Trust and Dr Jay Stewart from Gendered Intelligence will act as independent advisers to the review, which we expect to conclude next year.

[Mr Speaker]

I say in a very kindly way to the Minister, whom I much esteem, that sometimes Ministers, who of course are ultimately responsible, must trim the officialese that is penned for them by others. The hon. Lady is her own best judge in these important matters, and I know she is perfectly capable of doing that herself.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Dinenage and John Bercow

Thursday 15th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

15. As the chairman of the all-party group for running and the father of a young daughter, I am very keen to encourage more girls to take up running, particularly through the excellent parkrun scheme. Mr Speaker, those runs are a great way to start a Saturday morning for those who, like yourself, have a young family. I recommend three miles around your local park. What is the impact of the Government’s investment in the school sports premium particularly on the take-up of sport by girls?

[Mr Speaker]

I am most grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his helpful public advice.

[Caroline Dinenage]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. I know that he is no mean marathon runner himself. Running is a fantastic form of exercise and parkrun has been particularly effective at encouraging inactive people and those from all age groups to get involved in sport. In recognition of that, Sport England is investing £400,000 in parkrun to support its work. The primary PE and sports premium has been really effective in allowing schools to tailor this offer to pupils, giving them suitable opportunities to target particular groups, especially girls.