Harriet Harman

Under new regulations, large employers were required to publish gender pay gap data by the deadlines of 30 March for the public sector, and 4 April for the private and voluntary sector.

All of the data published by organisations for the first year of gender pay gap reporting is available on the government reporting website:

https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/

The data can be filtered by postcode; however, organisations are identified by the address they are registered at according to their Companies House record. As a result, there may be companies that employ more than 250 people in the constituency, but are registered at another address.

The Office for National Statistics publishes gender pay gaps by home parliamentary constituency and local authority. These are available online in ‘constituency table’ 10.12 and ‘home geography table’ 8.12:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/annualsurveyofhoursandearningsashegenderpaygaptables

The government has set aside £5m to celebrate this milestone in British democracy.

In the Autumn budget, the Chancellor announced that £1.2million of the centenary fund would go directly to seven Centenary Cities and towns in England with a strong suffrage history, to strengthen the reach and legacy of regional activity to inspire a new generation with this story.

A further £1.5million will be available to organisations and communities through a grants scheme. Online applications opened in January, and further information can be found at: www.womensvotecentenaryfund.co.uk

The Government Equalities Office has developed an exciting national programme to celebrate and remember the suffrage movement, which also includes funding the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, and a suite of education programmes in partnership with the Department for Education and the Cabinet Office.

We are aware of the Rt Hon. Member’s letter of 14 September 2016 regarding the contract for future delivery of the Equality Advisory Support Service. I regret that we were not able to respond by her deadline of 10 October 2016 but assure the Rt Hon Member that the response has now been sent to her, as of Friday 21 October.

The Government wants to ensure that any proposals on European copyright reform serve to deepen the digital single market and encourage innovation, without undermining incentives to invest in the creative content that we all enjoy, including from the film and television sectors.

The Government will be engaging with the European Commission across the digital single market agenda to promote a single market which supports economic growth and enables businesses and consumers to enjoy the opportunities presented by the digital economy.

The government has set aside £5m to celebrate this milestone in British democracy.

In the Autumn budget, the Chancellor announced that £1.2million of the centenary fund would go directly to seven Centenary Cities and towns in England with a strong suffrage history, to strengthen the reach and legacy of regional activity to inspire a new generation with this story.

A further £1.5million will be available to organisations and communities through a grants scheme. Online applications opened in January, and further information can be found at: www.womensvotecentenaryfund.co.uk

The Government Equalities Office has developed an exciting national programme to celebrate and remember the suffrage movement, which also includes funding the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, and a suite of education programmes in partnership with the Department for Education and the Cabinet Office.

The work on section 41 has been led by officials in my Office and at the Ministry of Justice. They have sought a range of views from those familiar with how the legislation operates in practice as well as those who provide support to victims of sexual violence. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has reviewed a sample of finalised rape prosecution files to assess the frequency and outcome of applications to introduce a complainant’s sexual history under section 41.

The Lord Chancellor and I will give our response to that work as soon as we can.

The Cabinet Office publishes annual data on public appointments diversity. The latest figures, published 21 October 2021, show that the proportion of Chair, or Chair equivalent roles filled by women in post on 31 March 2021 was 33%. In 2017, the comparative figure was 30%. Comparative figures are not available for earlier years. Data for 31 March 2022 will be published before the end of the year.

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

A response to the Hon. Member's Parliamentary Question of 17 October is attached.

Lord Frost will appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 29 June 2021 alongside the Minister of State for Digital and Culture, Caroline Dinenage MP.

The Government is committed to Parliamentary scrutiny of our new relationship with the EU, and recognises the important role played by Select Committees, in particular the European Scrutiny Committee and the European Affairs Committee before which Lord Frost will be appearing in the coming weeks. Lord Frost has agreed to appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 10 June together with DCMS Ministers.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.

The Export Support Service is the first point of contact for all UK businesses to get answers to questions about exporting their products or services, including on areas most relevant to touring musicians such as ATA carnets.

The government has also published new information on the GOV.UK website specifically for touring musicians and other creative sectors and worked closely with music industry bodies to help develop their own tailored guidance.

My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed in the Autumn Statement that the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which was intended to support businesses, will be reformed from April and targeted at the most affected businesses. It has been decided that heat network consumers will not receive the Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment of £200, which was designed to support households using fuels such as oil, LPG or coal. Instead, the Government will bring forward a more appropriate route to deliver support, beyond April 2023, that is in line with support provided by other domestic consumers.

Some domestic heat network customers are already receiving energy bill support through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. The Government is developing options to ensure domestic consumers on a non-domestic meter continue to benefit from support in line with other domestic users after April.

Further information on the scheme will be made publicly available in the near future.

Domestic heat network customers currently receive support on their heating and hot water bills via the Energy Bill Relief Scheme. The Government is developing options to ensure these domestic consumers benefit from support in line with other domestic users after April 2023. Further information on a successor scheme will be available in the near future.

The Government has not estimated the average annual savings to consumers – these will be project specific and dependent on the heat network optimisation measures for which grant support is awarded. The point at which bill reductions and/or other benefits are delivered will also be project specific, and dependent on a) the heat network optimisation measures for which grant funding is awarded and b) each projects delivery timescales. The Government does expect to see benefits being delivered to some networks that are awarded grants in early funding rounds in advance of the next heating season.

Ministers have not met with housing associations which administer communal networks to discuss the heat network specific support provided under the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, however officials have been meeting with these organisations over the past year to discuss the design of the scheme and continue to do so to understand its effectiveness.

The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible. By 2025 the government is targeting a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable coverage.

Today, less than 9.6% of premises in Camberwell and Peckham and 10.8% of premises in Southwark specifically do not have access to a gigabit-capable network; meaning the overwhelming majority - 90.4% of premises in Camberwell and Peckham and 89.2% of premises in Southwark - already have gigabit coverage.

In order to further improve connectivity in Camberwell, Peckham and Southwark, we have published the Digital Connectivity Portal, which offers extensive guidance to help local authorities facilitate broadband deployment. This includes technical information on the application of telecoms legislation; practical examples of best practice such as the Street Works Toolkit for working in the country’s highways; and wayleave templates for telecoms operators to gain access to public sector land.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology officials regularly facilitate meetings and workshops between local government and the broadband industry, to build relationships that foster more frictionless deployment. The four sub-regional partnerships across London have been vital in coordinating this work. For example, Central London Forward, which represents Southwark, has actively worked with the Government on a number of initiatives.

More generally, we have made it as attractive as possible for firms to build their networks in the UK by removing barriers to rollout and working with Ofcom to promote competition and investment. As a result, there is now a thriving market of over 80 providers investing nearly £35bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK.

The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible. By 2025 the government is targeting a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable coverage.

Today, less than 9.6% of premises in Camberwell and Peckham and 10.8% of premises in Southwark specifically do not have access to a gigabit-capable network; meaning the overwhelming majority - 90.4% of premises in Camberwell and Peckham and 89.2% of premises in Southwark - already have gigabit coverage.

In order to further improve connectivity in Camberwell, Peckham and Southwark, we have published the Digital Connectivity Portal, which offers extensive guidance to help local authorities facilitate broadband deployment. This includes technical information on the application of telecoms legislation; practical examples of best practice such as the Street Works Toolkit for working in the country’s highways; and wayleave templates for telecoms operators to gain access to public sector land.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology officials regularly facilitate meetings and workshops between local government and the broadband industry, to build relationships that foster more frictionless deployment. The four sub-regional partnerships across London have been vital in coordinating this work. For example, Central London Forward, which represents Southwark, has actively worked with the Government on a number of initiatives.

More generally, we have made it as attractive as possible for firms to build their networks in the UK by removing barriers to rollout and working with Ofcom to promote competition and investment. As a result, there is now a thriving market of over 80 providers investing nearly £35bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a price reduction to eligible Heat Suppliers on non-domestic tariffs. Energy supplies to communal heat networks use commercial contracts. The prices being charged on non-domestic contracts are already being reduced by the Energy Prices Act and accompanying regulations. The EBRS Pass-through Requirement (Heat Suppliers) Regulations 2022 requires eligible heat suppliers to pass on the benefits of the discount in a just and reasonable way. Heat suppliers should start to receive any EBRS discounts for October energy usage in their November bills and must inform their customers within 30 days of themselves receiving the discount. The regulations appoint the Energy Ombudsman to resolve disputes about the pass-through of these discounts in Great Britain.

Through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, the Government is effectively introducing a cap on the price that heat networks buy energy at, which is a much more targeted approach and ensures support gets to customers as quickly as possible.

Energy supplies to communal systems use commercial contracts. These will benefit from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) which will enable the Government to provide financial assistance for all eligible non-domestic customers to ensure they are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period.

I wrote to the Rt. Hon. Members on 10 March outlining the Government’s position on the Employment Bill, which will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy recently met with my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, reiterating the commitment to tackling climate change and agreed for the two departments to continue working together to drive forward the Net Zero Agenda.

The Secretary of State is clear that local places play a key role in tackling Climate Change and meeting the Net Zero target. In September last year, the then Secretary of State, Alok Sharma, met with the Mayoral and Regions Advisory Group with the next meeting taking place this month. This group is made up of Mayors, Devolved Administrations and the LGA with the purpose to engage with communities and emphasize their role in Climate Change, especially in the run up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) as part of the UK Presidency’s aim to make this inclusive and representative of all of the UK.

As part of the evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Pay scheme we have undertaken large, representative, surveys of employers and parents and a qualitative study of parents who have taken SPL.

Alongside this we are assessing responses from the consultation on high-level options for reforming parental leave and pay. Together, all of these will give us a fuller picture of how well the current system of parental leave and pay is working for parents and employers.

We intend to publish the findings of all of the research that we have commissioned – including the “Parental Rights Study” - later this year alongside the evaluation report itself and the Government Response to the consultation.