Ellie Reeves

Individuals who experience pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace can access justice through an employment tribunal, under the Equality Act 2010. While the time limit for bringing a claim is three months, tribunals have the discretion to provide extensions where they consider it ‘just and equitable’ to do so.

The Government continues to look closely at extending the time limit for bringing Equality Act 2010 based cases to an employment tribunal. This decision, however, must take account of wider impacts across the justice system. We recognise that the pandemic has put additional pressure on the entire courts and tribunals service, particularly the employment tribunal, and that restoring its existing levels of service needs to be the priority before additional loading is added.

The Government response to the Women and Equalities Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2019-21, ‘Unequal impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact’, was published on 14 May 2021 and is available on the Parliament website.

The Surrey Senior Coroner has already carried out a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Zane Gbangbola’s death, taking into account a considerable amount of evidence. The Coroner, as an independent judicial office holder, drew his own conclusions based on this evidence.

If there is a belief that the evidence was not considered properly during the original inquest, or that there is new evidence available, the correct process is for an application to be made to the Attorney General asking her to apply to the High Court to quash the inquest and order a fresh investigation. The High Court would take this course of action if it believed that it would be in the interests of justice.

If the Hon Member or the victim’s family would like to make such an application to the Attorney General, they are welcome to contact the Attorney General’s Office at correspondence@attorneygeneral.gov.uk for information and guidance on how to apply.

The Home Office holds the data on the number of arrests for specific offences.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is responsible for data on charges, including data for murder and manslaughter. No information is held regarding the number of murder charges which resulted in manslaughter convictions.

Each of the 14 CPS Areas has a dedicated RASSO Unit, staffed by specially trained prosecutors and other operational delivery staff, equipped to deal with the complexities of rape cases. The below data shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff employed in each CPS RASSO Unit, which were established in 2016, as of 31 March for each year from 2017. The figures are set out in decimals as there are many part-time members of staff who work in RASSO Units.

CPS Areas are not uniform in size and as such there is a disparity in the staffing levels between each Area. Furthermore, case numbers and types of case in RASSO Units may vary from year to year and across Areas.

It is also important to note that CPS Areas have the flexibility to move staff between teams to support local needs. While the below figures show the number of FTE staff employed in each CPS RASSO Unit in each year, they do not include members of staff who have been moved to teams in other Areas to support local needs

*Prior to 2017, London South and London North operated as a single CPS Area, and the combined number of FTE staff in the pan-London RASSO Unit for 2017 was 66.23.

As has been the case under successive Administrations, it is not government policy to comment on security procedures in government buildings.

As has been the case under successive Administrations, it is not government policy to comment on security procedures in government buildings.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 22nd March is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Questions of 16 May are attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Questions of 16 May are attached.

The UK has one of the best workers’ rights records in the world. Our high standards were never dependent on our membership of the EU and this Government has raised domestic standards in recent years, while also retaining important flexibilities for employers which benefit the economy and wider labour market.

The Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) is delivering a £400 non-repayable discount to households with a domestic electricity meter. EBSS Alternative Funding will provide equivalent support of £400 for energy bills for the small minority of households who will not be reached through the EBSS.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not routinely collect data on the take-up of parental leave entitlements, including unpaid Shared Parental Leave. However, we are currently completing an extensive evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay schemes. This has included commissioning and interrogating information collected through large scale, representative, surveys of employers and parents. We also commissioned a qualitative study of parents who have used the schemes. The various data sources will give us a fuller picture of the level of take-up of paid and unpaid entitlements to Shared Parental Leave, tell us how the schemes are being used in practice, and help us to better understand the barriers and enablers to parents taking Shared Parental Leave. We will publish our findings later this year.

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Pay was introduced in December 2014 for the parents of children due or adopted from 5 April 2015. The scheme enables eligible working parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay in the first year, where the mother does not intend to use her full maternity entitlements.

Information provided by employers to HMRC in respect of claims for Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) indicates that 4,100 individuals were in receipt of ShPP in Quarter 3 of 2020-21, and 3,300 individuals were in receipt of ShPP in Quarter 4 of 2020-21.

Please note that HMRC does not hold information which calculates the total duration of ShPP received by individual claimants. However, the following table sets out the number of individuals in receipt of ShPP in 2019-20 by the number of months in the year that they made a claim:

Please note:

1. The data collected uses HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) system and was extracted in May 2021. RTI is subject to revision or updates, and so there may be small fluctuations in figures reported, and these figures should not be considered “final”.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
3. The number of individuals in receipt of ShPP per quarter are based on the total number of individuals in that quarter irrespective of when the payment first started. Quarterly figures should not be added together to make a yearly count of individuals in receipt of ShPP due to double counting claimants from quarter to quarter.
4. “Number of months claimed” counts each month the same individual was in receipt of ShPP in a given tax year (2019-20). This should not be interpreted as the total duration of pay received. Where individuals are in receipt of pay that spans two financial years HMRC data can only count the period within a single year and where individuals have received pay spanning months, however briefly, will be recorded as two months.
5. This data represents individuals in receipt of Shared Parental Pay only, so those who take unpaid Shared Parental Leave are not included.

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Pay was introduced in December 2014 for the parents of children due or adopted from 5 April 2015. The scheme enables eligible working parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of pay in the first year, where the mother does not intend to use her full maternity entitlements.

Information provided by employers to HMRC in respect of claims for Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) indicates that 4,100 individuals were in receipt of ShPP in Quarter 3 of 2020-21, and 3,300 individuals were in receipt of ShPP in Quarter 4 (January and February only) of 2020-21.

Please note that HMRC does not hold information which calculates the total duration of ShPP received by individual claimants. However, the following table sets out the number of individuals in receipt of ShPP in 2019-20 by the number of months in the year that they made a claim:

Please note:

1. The data collected uses HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) system and was extracted in May 2021. RTI is subject to revision or updates, and so there may be small fluctuations in figures reported, and these figures should not be considered “final”.
2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
3. The number of individuals in receipt of ShPP per quarter are based on the total number of individuals in that quarter irrespective of when the payment first started. Quarterly figures should not be added together to make a yearly count of individuals in receipt of ShPP due to double counting claimants from quarter to quarter.
4. “Number of months claimed” counts each month the same individual was in receipt of ShPP in a given tax year (2019-20). This should not be interpreted as the total duration of pay received. Where individuals are in receipt of pay that spans two financial years HMRC data can only count the period within a single year and where individuals have received pay spanning months, however briefly, will be recorded as two months.
5. This data represents individuals in receipt of Shared Parental Pay only, so those who take unpaid Shared Parental Leave are not included.

To tackle the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on disabled people DCMS launched the £2.5m digital inclusion Digital Lifeline fund on 25 February. The fund will provide 5000 devices, data and support for disabled people to use the devices safely and confidently.

The government is working on the project with leading digital inclusion charities Good Things Foundation and AbilityNet, both highly experienced in helping disabled people boost their mental health and achieve their goals through digital technology.

The Government has worked closely with industry throughout the pandemic and has agreed a set of commitments with the UK’s major broadband and mobile operators to support vulnerable consumers during the Covid-19 period. Providers committed to working with customers who are finding it difficult to pay their bill as a result of Covid-19 to ensure that they are treated fairly and appropriately supported. Supplementary to this work, Ofcom published a Vulnerability Guide for providers, setting out its expectations and good practice on how vulnerable telecoms consumers should be supported.

The Spring Budget did not include additional support specifically for organisations working to tackle loneliness and isolation amongst older people.

The government has rolled out a substantial package of support which has been available to charities and the wider voluntary sector. Together with the sector-specific £750million package and pan economy measures such as the furlough scheme, the VCSE sector has accessed a multi-billion pound package of support. This has helped to ensure that organisations at risk of financial hardship have been able to continue their vital work supporting the country during the coronavirus outbreak.

As part of this package of support, we have provided over £30 million this financial year to organisations which support people experiencing loneliness or social isolation. Most recently we launched the £4 million Local Connections Fund, made up of £2 million from government and £2 million from the National Lottery Community Fund, supporting small local organisations tackling loneliness. A second round of this funding will open later this year.

The Online Harms White Paper set out government’s plans to establish in law a new duty of care on companies towards their users, enforced by an independent regulator. As part of our plans, companies will be required to take action to address harmful suicide and self-harm content that provides graphic details of suicide methods and self-harming, including encouragement of self-harm and suicide.

There are already arrangements between companies and charities to improve the identification and removal of content when it is reported, and services that signpost help and supportive content to users. The Samaritans has a strategic partnership with social media companies and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC). The partnership works together to set guidance on moderating suicide and self-harm content, and supporting users to stay safe online.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Music Hubs are partnerships co-ordinated by a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) and made up of schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts and education organisations and charities, community or youth organisations and more. Having 43 HLOs working across a wider set of music education partnerships from September 2024 should bring significant benefits to children, young people and schools, as HLOs will be able to be more strategic, building stronger partnerships with those they work with, resulting in high-quality support in every local area and to ensure there are no local ‘cold spots’ where access to provision is limited.

This should also support a more consistent high-quality approach to music education for all children regardless of where they live or go to school, by offering:

• Improved and more equitable access to a diverse range of musical activities, opportunities, teachers, instruments and equipment.
• Greater consistency of provision and ability to scale up effective programmes and ways of working for children and young people and schools.
• Greater access to more advanced ensembles and a wider range of progression opportunities.
• Greater access to the cultural capital centred around urban centres, thus improving connections and reducing isolation for rural communities.
• More strategic leadership and governance, plus a wider range of employment opportunities and progression routes for the music education workforce.
• Access to greater resources, capacity and capability to use government funding to leverage further investment.
• An increased profile with wider musical stakeholders and a stronger connection with the music industry.

Schools alone cannot provide the range of services needed for a good quality music education and Music Hubs provide many services that contribute to schools delivering high-quality music provision. Furthermore, Music Hubs will play a critical role in supporting schools who opt to implement the Model Music Curriculum published in 2021 and for schools implementing their Music Development Plans from September 2024. In time, Music Hubs will also support schools opting to use music curriculum resources from Oak National Academy, who will publish their full suite of key stage 3 and 4 resources in the summer and who recently announced a partner to produce a suite of key stages 1 and 2 resources.

The government has a long-standing commitment to high-quality music education and this is reflected in the government’s National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022. This sets out the vision to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally by 2030. The department believes that Music Hubs play a vital role in ensuring children and young people across the country can access high-quality music education and this government values the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012.

The department has invested around £380 million of funding into Music Hubs between 2016 and 2021. As part of the National Plan for Music Education 2022, the department also announced £79 million of funding per year for the Music Hub programme, up to and including the 2024/25 academic year, to provide assurance and stability in music education. The department is also providing £25 million capital funding for musical instruments as part of the programme. The department will consider future funding for the next spending review in due course.

On average, the grant funding has consistently provided around 40% of a hub’s total income and hubs have historically used this to leverage other income streams over the lifespan of the programme. This co-funding approach will continue when the new programme is in place from September 2024. As set out in the investment programme, the department also expects organisations to have evidenced, as part of their applications to become one of the new HLOs, how at least 50% of a hub’s total income will come from other sources other than the revenue grant provided by the department by the end of the funding period.

There is no expectation on Music Hubs to provide free music tuition to all children. As part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, bidders were required to submit plans detailing their strategic approach to ensure music education is inclusive of all children and young people with a range of needs, including how the Music Hub would ensure inclusion and widening opportunity will be embedded across all activity, plans and policies. This includes specific support and resources, including access to musical instruments, that will be made available for children and young people who are eligible for pupil premium, including looked-after children and/or those who are care experienced and those who have an identified special educational need or disability.

Music Hubs are partnerships co-ordinated by a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) and made up of schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts and education organisations and charities, community or youth organisations and more. Having 43 HLOs working across a wider set of music education partnerships from September 2024 should bring significant benefits to children, young people and schools, as HLOs will be able to be more strategic, building stronger partnerships with those they work with, resulting in high-quality support in every local area and to ensure there are no local ‘cold spots’ where access to provision is limited.

This should also support a more consistent high-quality approach to music education for all children regardless of where they live or go to school, by offering:

• Improved and more equitable access to a diverse range of musical activities, opportunities, teachers, instruments and equipment.
• Greater consistency of provision and ability to scale up effective programmes and ways of working for children and young people and schools.
• Greater access to more advanced ensembles and a wider range of progression opportunities.
• Greater access to the cultural capital centred around urban centres, thus improving connections and reducing isolation for rural communities.
• More strategic leadership and governance, plus a wider range of employment opportunities and progression routes for the music education workforce.
• Access to greater resources, capacity and capability to use government funding to leverage further investment.
• An increased profile with wider musical stakeholders and a stronger connection with the music industry.

Schools alone cannot provide the range of services needed for a good quality music education and Music Hubs provide many services that contribute to schools delivering high-quality music provision. Furthermore, Music Hubs will play a critical role in supporting schools who opt to implement the Model Music Curriculum published in 2021 and for schools implementing their Music Development Plans from September 2024. In time, Music Hubs will also support schools opting to use music curriculum resources from Oak National Academy, who will publish their full suite of key stage 3 and 4 resources in the summer and who recently announced a partner to produce a suite of key stages 1 and 2 resources.

The government has a long-standing commitment to high-quality music education and this is reflected in the government’s National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022. This sets out the vision to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally by 2030. The department believes that Music Hubs play a vital role in ensuring children and young people across the country can access high-quality music education and this government values the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012.

The department has invested around £380 million of funding into Music Hubs between 2016 and 2021. As part of the National Plan for Music Education 2022, the department also announced £79 million of funding per year for the Music Hub programme, up to and including the 2024/25 academic year, to provide assurance and stability in music education. The department is also providing £25 million capital funding for musical instruments as part of the programme. The department will consider future funding for the next spending review in due course.

On average, the grant funding has consistently provided around 40% of a hub’s total income and hubs have historically used this to leverage other income streams over the lifespan of the programme. This co-funding approach will continue when the new programme is in place from September 2024. As set out in the investment programme, the department also expects organisations to have evidenced, as part of their applications to become one of the new HLOs, how at least 50% of a hub’s total income will come from other sources other than the revenue grant provided by the department by the end of the funding period.

There is no expectation on Music Hubs to provide free music tuition to all children. As part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, bidders were required to submit plans detailing their strategic approach to ensure music education is inclusive of all children and young people with a range of needs, including how the Music Hub would ensure inclusion and widening opportunity will be embedded across all activity, plans and policies. This includes specific support and resources, including access to musical instruments, that will be made available for children and young people who are eligible for pupil premium, including looked-after children and/or those who are care experienced and those who have an identified special educational need or disability.

Music Hubs are partnerships co-ordinated by a Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) and made up of schools and academy trusts, local authorities, music and wider arts and education organisations and charities, community or youth organisations and more. Having 43 HLOs working across a wider set of music education partnerships from September 2024 should bring significant benefits to children, young people and schools, as HLOs will be able to be more strategic, building stronger partnerships with those they work with, resulting in high-quality support in every local area and to ensure there are no local ‘cold spots’ where access to provision is limited.

This should also support a more consistent high-quality approach to music education for all children regardless of where they live or go to school, by offering:

• Improved and more equitable access to a diverse range of musical activities, opportunities, teachers, instruments and equipment.
• Greater consistency of provision and ability to scale up effective programmes and ways of working for children and young people and schools.
• Greater access to more advanced ensembles and a wider range of progression opportunities.
• Greater access to the cultural capital centred around urban centres, thus improving connections and reducing isolation for rural communities.
• More strategic leadership and governance, plus a wider range of employment opportunities and progression routes for the music education workforce.
• Access to greater resources, capacity and capability to use government funding to leverage further investment.
• An increased profile with wider musical stakeholders and a stronger connection with the music industry.

Schools alone cannot provide the range of services needed for a good quality music education and Music Hubs provide many services that contribute to schools delivering high-quality music provision. Furthermore, Music Hubs will play a critical role in supporting schools who opt to implement the Model Music Curriculum published in 2021 and for schools implementing their Music Development Plans from September 2024. In time, Music Hubs will also support schools opting to use music curriculum resources from Oak National Academy, who will publish their full suite of key stage 3 and 4 resources in the summer and who recently announced a partner to produce a suite of key stages 1 and 2 resources.

The government has a long-standing commitment to high-quality music education and this is reflected in the government’s National Plan for Music Education published in June 2022. This sets out the vision to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally by 2030. The department believes that Music Hubs play a vital role in ensuring children and young people across the country can access high-quality music education and this government values the many achievements that the existing Music Hub network has made since 2012.

The department has invested around £380 million of funding into Music Hubs between 2016 and 2021. As part of the National Plan for Music Education 2022, the department also announced £79 million of funding per year for the Music Hub programme, up to and including the 2024/25 academic year, to provide assurance and stability in music education. The department is also providing £25 million capital funding for musical instruments as part of the programme. The department will consider future funding for the next spending review in due course.

On average, the grant funding has consistently provided around 40% of a hub’s total income and hubs have historically used this to leverage other income streams over the lifespan of the programme. This co-funding approach will continue when the new programme is in place from September 2024. As set out in the investment programme, the department also expects organisations to have evidenced, as part of their applications to become one of the new HLOs, how at least 50% of a hub’s total income will come from other sources other than the revenue grant provided by the department by the end of the funding period.

There is no expectation on Music Hubs to provide free music tuition to all children. As part of the Music Hubs Investment Programme, bidders were required to submit plans detailing their strategic approach to ensure music education is inclusive of all children and young people with a range of needs, including how the Music Hub would ensure inclusion and widening opportunity will be embedded across all activity, plans and policies. This includes specific support and resources, including access to musical instruments, that will be made available for children and young people who are eligible for pupil premium, including looked-after children and/or those who are care experienced and those who have an identified special educational need or disability.

As part of the ongoing Music Hubs investment programme, Arts Council England informed potential bidders on 15 June 2023 that Department for Education funding from September 2024 would be made up of the revenue and capital grants only, and that there would be no additional ring-fenced top-up funding to support teacher pensions from this point on. Indicative allocations for both revenue and capital were also published for the 2024/25 academic year as part of the investment programme information.

The department understands that this will be an adjustment for music education organisations that have received top-up funding in the past and that is why the department has given both incumbent and potential new Hub Lead Organisations (HLOs) over 12 months’ notice of this intention so that this can be carefully planned for well in advance.

Following the conclusion of the current Music Hubs competition, due to be announced next month, the department will work with Arts Council England to set final grant allocations for the newly competed HLOs that take over from September 2024. As part of this work, due consideration will be given to additional pension pressures due to the forthcoming increase in employer contribution to the Teacher Pension Scheme.