Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether any of the covid-19 vaccines purchased by the Government for use in the UK have been tested on people with sickle cell and thalassemia blood disorders.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We expect safety data from all trials to set out how the COVID-19 vaccines work in different types of people.
The NHS COVID-19 vaccine research registry, developed in partnership with NHS Digital, will help facilitate the rapid recruitment of large numbers of people into trials. The government has been encouraging a diverse pool of people to volunteer to help researchers better understand the effectiveness of each vaccine candidate
Specific questions on individual vaccines are for vaccine developers.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions officials of his Department have had with representatives from employer organisations on recent changes in advice to clinically extremely vulnerable people who are shielding with (a) arthritis and (b) other conditions.
Answered by Paul Scully
Officials regularly meet with representatives from employer bodies and discussions have included recent changes in the advice to the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable.
More generally, BEIS leads for Government on the Safer Working Guidance. This sets out the steps employers can take to ensure that the workplace is secure for everyone. This guidance is updated as necessary following changes in public health advice. Individuals and organisations, including those with interest in specific conditions such as arthritis, are able to comment on the guidance through safer.workplaces@beis.gov.uk.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will set a date for mandatory Ethnicity Pay Gap Reporting.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government ran a consultation from October 2018 to January 2019 on Ethnicity Pay Reporting and received over 300 detailed responses. The Government has 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.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she will take to improve LGBT+ workers representation on the boards of FTSE 100 companies.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
One of our top priorities is to make the UK the best place in the world to work and grow a business. New provisions in the UK Corporate Governance Code give employees a stronger voice in the boardroom. They require companies to have an employee director, a designated non-executive director or a formal employee advisory council, or to explain why another employee engagement mechanism has been adopted.
The Government has legislated to require annual reporting on how boardrooms are engaging with their employees and taking their interests into account – this applies to public and private companies with more than 250 employees. The UK Corporate Governance Code also sets out that a company’s culture should value diversity and should promote diversity in appointments and succession planning.
LGBT+ people should be able to be themselves in the workplace, so that they can do their best work and achieve their full potential. The Government Equalities Office (GEO) LGBT Action Plan published in July 2018 has over 75 commitments regarding the representation of LGBT people in the workplace. This action plan was informed by the National LGBT Survey of 108,000 respondents and sets out commitments to improve the lives of LGBT people in the workplace. GEO will create a comprehensive training package on tackling LGBT workplace discrimination that will be available to all employers, developing targeted interventions to improve the experiences of LGBT people at work.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking to tackle the LGBT+ pay gap.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
This is a matter for the Government’s Equalities Office and they will be responding shortly to the same question.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of FTSE 100 companies on diversity.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
BEIS Ministers have regular discussions with FTSE 100 company chairs and CEOs and with business representative organisations and stress the Government’s priority of improving diversity at board and leadership levels, especially in support of the Hampton-Alexander and Parker Reviews. We do all we can to promote business leadership diversity and inclusion.
In that wider context, LGBT+ people should be able to be themselves in the workplace, so that they can do their best work and achieve their full potential. Many British businesses, charities and voluntary organisations are leading the way on LGBT+ equality at work; this is regularly highlighted by activities such as the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, which showcases the UK’s top 100 LGBT employers.
At the Government’s request, the Financial Reporting Council revised the UK Corporate Governance Code in 2018 which requires companies to report fully on their diversity and inclusion policies, and how the objectives of these policies relate to wider company strategy.
The Government Equalities Office LGBT Action Plan published in July 2018 has over 75 commitments regarding the representation of LGBT people in the workplace. This action plan was informed by the National LGBT Survey of 108,000 respondents and sets out commitments to improve the lives of LGBT people in the workplace.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she plans to take to improve reporting on LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
BEIS Ministers have regular discussions with FTSE 100 company chairs and CEOs and with business representative organisations and stress the Government’s priority of improving diversity at board and leadership levels, especially in support of the Hampton-Alexander and Parker Reviews. We do all we can to promote business leadership diversity and inclusion.
In that wider context, LGBT+ people should be able to be themselves in the workplace, so that they can do their best work and achieve their full potential. Many British businesses, charities and voluntary organisations are leading the way on LGBT+ equality at work; this is regularly highlighted by activities such as the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, which showcases the UK’s top 100 LGBT employers.
At the Government’s request, the Financial Reporting Council revised the UK Corporate Governance Code in 2018 which requires companies to report fully on their diversity and inclusion policies, and how the objectives of these policies relate to wider company strategy.
The Government Equalities Office LGBT Action Plan published in July 2018 has over 75 commitments regarding the representation of LGBT people in the workplace. This action plan was informed by the National LGBT Survey of 108,000 respondents and sets out commitments to improve the lives of LGBT people in the workplace.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to prevent workplace discrimination against fathers taking parental leave.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Fathers taking parental leave benefit from a number of legal protections against discrimination. Legislation is in place and provides protection against redundancy and detriment. They also have a right to return to the same or similar job.
As part of our consultation on pregnancy and maternity discrimination, Government is also considering whether fathers who have taken shared parental leave should benefit from additional redundancy protection into a period of return to work.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what further support the Government plans to provide to women who have received Government start-up loans to help them maintain their start-ups past the first year.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Our Industrial Strategy is about providing help and support for all individuals wishing to start and grow their own business, regardless of age, gender or ethnicity. The Government-backed British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme provides loans for people starting their own business. The Scheme started in 2012 and as at the end of September 2018, the Start Up Loans programme had lent £450m to more than 59,000 entrepreneurs.
Whilst our approach to business support is focused on advice and support for all, I am pleased to report that women account for 39% of the recipients of these loans, while 19% of existing SMEs are female-led. The Start-Up Loans scheme also provides comprehensive advice and support for those in receipt of loans, with teams of business advisors and mentoring support to guide people through the start-up process.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support SMEs that are run by women.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government is committed to supporting all entrepreneurs to start and grow a business, and as part of our Industrial Strategy, we have taken steps to encourage women to start a business. There are now 1.1 million female-led small and medium-sized businesses in the UK, which accounts for 19% of SMEs in the UK, 5% higher than in 2010.
There are 38 Growth Hubs across England which provide localised information, guidance, expertise and finance for businesses at any stage of their growth. We know that 45% of callers to the Business Support Helpline in 2017/18 were women.
The Government-backed British Business Bank provides Start-Up Loans for individuals wishing to start a business and women account for 39% of recipients. The Scheme started in 2012 and as at the end of September 2018, the Start Up Loans programme had lent £450m to more than 59,000 entrepreneurs. The Bank is also conducting a review into the specific barriers female-led businesses face in accessing Venture Capital.
I would also like to point out that on 21 September 2018, the Treasury launched a review into the barriers women face getting into business. This is led by Alison Rose, Chief Executive of RBS Commercial and Private Banking. This review will bolster our work to make it easier for them to access the support they need to get their ideas off the ground and grow their businesses.