Jo Swinson
Liberal Democrat - Former Member for East Dunbartonshire
First elected: 8th June 2017
Left House: 6th November 2019 (Defeated)
5 Former APPG memberships
Allergy, Body Image, EU Relations, Loneliness, Textiles and FashionDivision Voting information
Jo Swinson voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 23 Liberal Democrat No votes vs 24 Liberal Democrat Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 284 Noes - 269
Jo Swinson voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 10 Liberal Democrat No votes vs 36 Liberal Democrat Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 304 Noes - 103
Jo Swinson voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 7 Liberal Democrat Aye votes vs 46 Liberal Democrat No votes
Tally: Ayes - 235 Noes - 176
Jo Swinson voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 6 Liberal Democrat Aye votes vs 48 Liberal Democrat No votes
Tally: Ayes - 223 Noes - 158
Jo Swinson voted Aye - against a party majority and in line with the House
One of 6 Liberal Democrat Aye votes vs 49 Liberal Democrat No votes
Tally: Ayes - 213 Noes - 153
Jo Swinson voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 23 Liberal Democrat Aye votes vs 25 Liberal Democrat No votes
Tally: Ayes - 206 Noes - 298
Jo Swinson voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 26 Liberal Democrat Aye votes vs 29 Liberal Democrat No votes
Tally: Ayes - 223 Noes - 286
Jo Swinson voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 22 Liberal Democrat Aye votes vs 32 Liberal Democrat No votes
Tally: Ayes - 200 Noes - 293
All Debates
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
(53 debate interactions)
(33 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(409 debate contributions)
(103 debate contributions)
(99 debate contributions)
(90 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(6,323 words contributed)
(2,462 words contributed)
(1,674 words contributed)
Latest EDMs signed by Jo Swinson
People's Vote
Tabled by: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat - East Dunbartonshire)That this House calls on the Government to bring forward legislation to hold a People’s Vote on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union or should leave the European Union on the final terms agreed between the Government and the European Union.
(Most recent: 5 Nov 2019)
Signatures by party:
Liberal Democrat: 19
Labour: 4
Plaid Cymru: 1
Independent: 1
Barclays's withdrawal from the banking framework with Post Office Ltd
Tabled by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)That this House expresses alarm on learning that Barclays bank has decided to withdraw from a key element of the banking framework agreement with Post Office Ltd, which allows personal and business customers to access their bank accounts via 11,500 post office locations across the UK; notes that the banking …
(Most recent: 24 Oct 2019)
Signatures by party:
Liberal Democrat: 17
Labour: 8
Democratic Unionist Party: 2
Plaid Cymru: 2
Independent: 1
Conservative: 1
Scottish National Party: 1
Commons initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Jo Swinson, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
1 Urgent Question tabled by Jo Swinson
2 Adjournment Debates led by Jo Swinson
3 Bills introduced by Jo Swinson
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to entitle employees to request shared parental leave and flexible working on the first day of employment; to make provision for self-employed persons to take shared parental leave; and for connected purposes.
Wednesday 3rd April 2019
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to require employers with more than 250 employees to publish information about parental leave, and pay in the course of such leave; and for connected purposes.
Wednesday 6th June 2018
A Bill to amend the Price Marking Order 2004 to simplify, consolidate and improve price marking legislation; and for connected purposes.
Wednesday 20th June 2012
8 Bills co-sponsored by Jo Swinson
Pregnancy and Maternity (Redundancy Protection) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Maria Miller (Con)
Prime Minister (Confidence) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Tom Brake (LD)
Gender-based Pricing (Prohibition) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Christine Jardine (LD)
Hereditary Titles (Female Succession) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Philip Davies (Con)
House of Peers Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Christine Jardine (LD)
Representation of the People (Young People's Enfranchisement and Education) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Jim McMahon (LAB)
Vagrancy (Repeal) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Layla Moran (LD)
Voyeurism (Offences) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Wera Hobhouse (LD)
Latest 50 Written Questions
(View all written questions)4 Other Department Questions
The House of Commons provides private spaces for expressing milk or feeding in two publicly accessible areas in the Palace of Westminster. The baby care room is located on the Upper Committee Corridor and the Health and Wellbeing space is off the Lower Waiting Hall; the Lower Waiting Hall space is available with agreement from the practice nurse if it is not being used for a medical emergency.
In addition, Commons passholders may access the first aid rooms for expressing milk or feeding by contacting the reception teams in the following buildings:
• Portcullis House
• 1 Parliament Street
• Richmond House
• Norman Shaw South
Tothill Street has a baby care room on the 5th floor.
For House of Commons and Parliamentary Digital Service staff, line managers are expected to regularly monitor the working arrangements of an expectant mother or new parent both throughout pregnancy and if the member of staff returns to work within six months after the birth or while feeding.
Parents of young children returning to work may make a request for flexible working on either a temporary or permanent basis. Examples of flexible working include part-time working and working from home.
The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can provide practical advice and guidance as well as counselling and support on a broad range of issues including family issues and childcare support. From 1 November employees of the House of Commons, PDS and House of Lords, have been able to access this service alongside Members of both Houses and their staff.
Further support to families is also available via "My Family Care" which provides a range of practical tools and resources to support parents. The House also provides a workplace nursery and users of the House of Commons nursery also have access to the expressing and feeding facilities in the nursery based in 1 Parliament Street.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent public authority and Government does not routinely respond to its reports. However, we welcome the work it has done on sexual harassment in its March 2018 report as a contribution to the current inquiry into sexual harassment in the workplace by the Women and Equalities Select Committee.
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Exhibitions in Parliament’s Upper Waiting Hall offer an opportunity for a variety of topics to be explored in a balanced and non-contentious way. Exhibits must therefore meet the following criteria, that:
“their content should not be of a contentious nature, contain items of advertising, commercial interest or material likely to give offence; nor should they contain material intended to further the aims of any political party or group.”
Since being first approved, concerns have been raised in relation to the ‘Wall of Silence’ exhibition, which was due to be displayed in April 2018 in the Upper Waiting Hall. For this reason the Administration Committee decided, on 29 January 2018, to withdraw support for the exhibition because it did not meet the criterion of being uncontentious.
We will launch an updated gender pay gap viewing service in April 2018 that will allow employers to benchmark themselves against similar organisations. This will include information on the size of organisations.
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Government makes collective decisions on policy via Cabinet and Cabinet Sub-Committees.
Single Departmental Plans (SDPs) are central to how the government plans and tracks its performance. Updated annually, the plans reflect changes in the Government’s priorities, including new policy announcements. SDPs are agreed by Cabinet Office and HM Treasury Ministers. Departments report regularly to Cabinet Office on their progress in delivering their SDPs.
Ministerial Implementation Task Forces (ITFs) also meet regularly to monitor delivery and to discuss milestones. Details of the ITFs and their membership are available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/795150/20190411-CabinetCommitteesAndImplementationTaskforces.pdf
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Promotion of human rights remains a fundamental objective of UK foreign policy, and we remain committed to universal human rights – it is the right thing to do. The Prosperity Fund is committed to ensuring that safeguarding and modern slavery considerations are consistent with wider ODA policy and practice across government led by DFID. A Prosperity Fund Commercial Framework, managed by the FCO, has recently been put in place to support the commercial delivery of major Prosperity Fund programmes. This incorporates a supplier code of conduct covering areas such as safeguarding, social responsibility, human rights and ethical behaviour. In addition, implementing departments are actively working to align due diligence processes to ensure adequate assessment of potential partners’ ability to apply safeguards in their work, in particular to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from sexual exploitation and abuse.
Promotion of human rights remains a fundamental objective of UK foreign policy, and we remain committed to universal human rights – it is the right thing to do. The Prosperity Fund is committed to ensuring that safeguarding and modern slavery considerations are consistent with wider ODA policy and practice across government led by DFID. A Prosperity Fund Commercial Framework, managed by the FCO, has recently been put in place to support the commercial delivery of major Prosperity Fund programmes. This incorporates a supplier code of conduct covering areas such as safeguarding, social responsibility, human rights and ethical behaviour. In addition, implementing departments are actively working to align due diligence processes to ensure adequate assessment of potential partners’ ability to apply safeguards in their work, in particular to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from sexual exploitation and abuse.
When meeting with Prime Minister Modi on 18 April, I raised our requirement for continued consular access to Mr Johal and questions over his treatment in custody.
I did raise Mr Johal’s case with Prime Minister Modi during our bilateral on the 18 April, including concerns about his treatment.
I refer the hon. Member to the press release issued on 18 April following my meeting with Prime Minister Modi and which is available on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-meeting-with-prime-minister-of-india-18-april-2018
29 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Questions
(View all Jo Swinson's BEIS questions)The evaluation is ongoing and we are collecting data from a wide variety of sources, including the largest survey of parents to be undertaken in 10 years.
We expect to be in a position to publish the findings of the evaluation later this year, subject to the data collection process. This is slightly later than we originally expected but it is important to get this right.
BEIS accepted recommendation 3 of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s (ICAI) report and is taking action accordingly to enhance assessment of the performance of the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).
We have commissioned an evaluation of the GCRF by the independent contractor ITAD, the first stage of which established a clear Theory of Change. ITAD is now refining a further comprehensive evaluation methodology for the fund.
Work is also being undertaken to provide assurance on value for money and to develop Key Performance Indicators to enable monitoring of project and portfolio outcomes.
BEIS is actively engaged with ICAI in their follow up to the review.
BEIS is committed to meeting the Government’s target for transparency and to score ‘good’ or ‘very good’ on the Publish What You Fund aid transparency index.
29 of the Department’s 30 International Climate Finance programmes are listed on the Development Tracker website. This represents 96% of the Department’s International Climate Finance programmes, covering 99% of BEIS International Climate Finance expenditure from 2010/11 to the end of 2017/18.
At present BEIS does not publish detail of its research and innovation (R&I) spend on the Development Tracker website. However, much of the detail is published on the Gateway to Research website, which is run by UK Research and Innovation. BEIS is currently implementing a technical solution to be able to fully publish details of its R&I expenditure to the International Aid Transparency Index, which can be automatically accessed by the Development Tracker.
Developing better jobs for everyone in the British economy is at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy. We are proud to be the first Government to have taken responsibility for both quality and quantity of work, and are working to promote good work across the UK. We will be setting out our next steps for measuring and improving the quality of work in due course.
Developing better jobs for everyone in the British economy is at the heart of our modern Industrial Strategy. We are proud to be the first Government to have taken responsibility for both quality and quantity of work, and are working to promote good work across the UK. We will be setting out our next steps for measuring and improving the quality of work in due course.
The Low Pay Commission’s consultation, on the effect of a higher minimum wage for non-guaranteed hours in a contract and alternative means for tackling one-sided flexibility, launched in March.
The Low Pay Commission will publish their report, containing the findings from this consultation, in due course.
Last year, Acas published new comprehensive guidance on pregnancy and maternity discrimination and workplace rights and obligations.
This summer we have reviewed the GOV.UK guidance material on the protections for people who are pregnant or on maternity leave and we are now updating and improving signposting.
The Government has received over 400 detailed responses to the four consultations launched in February. We are very grateful to everyone who took the time to respond. Their insights have been invaluable in informing our policy development. We will be publishing our response to these consultations in due course.
The Government has received over 400 detailed responses to the four consultations launched in February. We are very grateful to everyone who took the time to respond. Their insights have been invaluable in informing our policy development. We will be publishing our response to these consultations in due course.
The following information is based on the resourcing of the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS) for the 31st March in each year:
2015 – 5
2016 – 11
2017 – 11
2018 – 12
The Department continues to review the resourcing needs both in the short term and in the context of wider, longer term reforms including the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices and the strategy of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement.
The Government has received over 400 detailed responses to the four consultations launched in February. We are very grateful to everyone who took the time to respond. Their insights have been invaluable in informing our policy development. We will be publishing our response to these consultations in due course.
The UK’s National Action Plan to implement the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights sets out a rolling programme of actions requiring both legislative and non-legislative approaches. The Department has funded one project in the last five years. The Department matched funding from the Dutch Government toward the development of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, a private sector-led initiative that ranks some of the world’s largest companies by their human rights policies, processes, and practices. The total spend on this project from UK Government was £60,000 in 2014/15 and £20,000 in 2015/16.
The Department, working together with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and other departments, aims to publish in due course a summary of the actions and progress within the Government’s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. Our focus is on implementing the Plan as it stands and there is no intention to review it before 2020. Any future development of the Plan must be informed by wide consultations and the Government welcomes discussions with business and civil society organisations about our approach and the delivery of commitments under the Plan.
We have started the evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay schemes and expect to be in a position to publish the findings of the evaluation in the Spring of 2019.
The evaluation will consider the barriers to parents taking Shared Parental Leave and Pay and how the schemes are being used in practice - including by self-employed mothers who qualify for Maternity Allowance. Whilst we are not planning to review the eligibility criteria at the current time, as part of the evaluation we will be speaking to range of stakeholders, including groups who are lobbying Government to extend parental entitlements to the self-employed.
We have started the evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay schemes. We will gather and analyse information from a variety of sources, including survey data which the Government will commission.
Subject to the progress of data collection, we anticipate publishing findings in Spring 2019.
Of the 169 employers instructed to self-correct further arrears in naming rounds 10 to 13, 96 employers identified a sum of self-corrected arrears greater than the sum of arrears for which they were named.
As part of a formal HMRC investigation where arrears have been identified, enforcement officers have the ability to instruct an employer to conduct a self-review across the remainder of their payroll. An employer will be required to correct any further underpayments found; and the review is assured by HMRC officers before being finalised. Self-correction is used to maximise the impact of enforcement activity, and frees up HMRC officers to start work on additional investigations.
Of the 169 employers who were instructed to self-correct further arrears in naming rounds 10-13:
- 13 employers owed total arrears of between £25,000 and £49,999
- 8 employers owed total arrears of between £50,000 and £99,999
- 5 employers owed total arrears of between £100,000 and £249,999
- 5 employers owed total arrears of more than £250,000.
The Government is committed to introducing a new statutory reporting requirement to require quoted companies to disclose and explain the ratio of the Chief Executive Officer’s total annual remuneration to the average annual remuneration of the company’s UK employees. The regulations to implement this provision (along with the other new reporting provisions being introduced as part of the corporate governance reforms announced in August 2017) are being drafted and will be laid in draft in Parliament later this year subject to other Parliamentary business.
Of the 169 employers who were instructed to self-correct further arrears in naming rounds 10-13:
- 17 employers owed arrears to more than 250 workers, of which 12 employers owed arrears to more than 500 workers.
This breakdown represents the arrears owed by a business to its workers, not the employer size.
A total of 169 employers were instructed to self-correct further arrears in naming rounds 10-13. The sectoral breakdown of those employers is presented in Table 1, below.
Table 1: Employers named under the National Minimum Wage naming scheme (rounds 10-13) and instructed to self-correct by the Low Pay Commission by sector
LPC Sector | No. of Employers instructed to self-correct |
Childcare | 6 |
Employment Agencies | 5 |
Hairdressing | 22 |
Hospitality | 41 |
Retail | 19 |
Social Care | 22 |
Non low paying sectors | 45 |
Other | 9 |
Total | 169 |
Notes
- Sectors with less than 5 employers have been included in an ‘Other’ category to avoid disclosure of self-correction via the naming announcements. Sector definitions are contained within the Low Pay Commission’s autumn 2017 report (p231) -https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/661195/Low_Pay_Commission_2017_report.pdf
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold complete data on employer size, therefore a breakdown by size is not available.
Protection already exists through the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999. Where redundancy means that it is not practicable to continue to employ a woman on maternity leave under an existing contract, Regulation 10 requires an employer to offer appropriate alternative employment on terms which are not substantially less favourable. We are considering the implications of extending this right into the period when a new mother returns to work and into the period while she is pregnant and at work. In terms of initial consultation, we have also sought the views of the Alliance for Maternity Rights on other potential proposals.
We have mobilised Jobcentre Plus’s Rapid response Service to help workers get back into employment as soon as possible. This service is tailored to individuals’ needs and can include some or all of the following:
- Help with job searches, including CV writing and interview skills;
- Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps, linked to the local labour market;
- Training to update skills, learn new ones and gain industry recognised certification that will improve employability;
- Help to overcome barriers to attending training, securing a job or self-employment, such as child care costs, tools, work clothes and travel costs.
It is worth noting that in June, Bunnings, the owner of Homebase, announced plans to create over 1,000 new jobs in the UK.
Local Trading Standards and their equivalent in Northern Ireland enforce the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Traders are required to comply with these rules when dealing with consumers, including the provision of basic rate customer services numbers. Alleged breaches of legislation should be reported, in the first instance, through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline who will pass on complaints to the relevant enforcement authority where necessary.
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (CCRs), which came into force on 13 June 2014, requires the Secretary of State to review the regulations 5 years after they have come into force. These implemented the EU Consumer Rights Directive and the Department worked closely with OFCOM with regard to the characteristics of a basic rate number. The Department will review the Regulations, including the provision of basic rate customer helplines, by 13 June 2019.
Revision of these regulations is technically complex and stakeholders hold a wide spectrum of views on the proposals that have been made. We will issue the Government response only after careful consideration of all 120 responses received. The Grenfell Tower fire highlights the need for public protection to remain our priority and we are now reviewing the proposed changes in the light of that tragic event.
We will evaluate Shared Parental Leave in 2018. We anticipate commissioning survey work to measure take-up as part of this evaluation.
The Government is committed to introducing a new statutory reporting requirement to require quoted companies to disclose and explain the ratio of the Chief Executive Officer’s total annual remuneration to the average annual remuneration of the company’s UK employees. The regulations to implement this provision (along with the other new reporting provisions being introduced as part of the corporate governance reforms announced in August 2017) are being drafted and will be laid in draft in Parliament later this year subject to other Parliamentary business.
The UK Government is establishing the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation to identify the measures needed to strengthen and improve the way in which data and AI is used, which will include promoting best practice and advising on how to address potential gaps in the regulatory landscape. The Centre is being established in the first instance in an interim form, following a public consultation on its remit and activities. The content and prioritisation of its work programme will be determined in dialogue with government once it is operational later this year.
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has not had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Defence on this matter, however officials from both departments meet to discuss these and related AI issues.
The UK Government is establishing the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation to identify the measures needed to strengthen and improve the way in which data and AI is used, which will include promoting best practice and advising on how to address potential gaps in the regulatory landscape. The Centre is being established in the first instance in an interim form, following a public consultation on its remit and activities. The content and prioritisation of its work programme will be determined in dialogue with government once it is operational later this year.
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has not had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Defence on this matter, however officials from both departments meet to discuss these and related AI issues.
No such discussions have taken place. This government believes, everyone has the right to feel safe at work and people can only thrive when they operate in a respectful and tolerant environment so that they can make the most of their creative talents.
We are supportive of any steps taken by industry to help ensure people can feel safe and respected in their place of work. We welcome the work being undertaken by the Incorporated Society of Musicians and others within the sector.
We have developed guidance for T level panels, including an employability skills framework, to ensure a consistent approach to integrating employability skills in T levels. As part of the government response to the Taylor review, we have committed to publish the guidance in due course. Through this, a framework will be made openly available for other organisations (such as employers and higher education providers, where successful frameworks are already in use) to use if they wish.
Universities are autonomous institutions and it is for them to consider the number of their students whose classes have been affected by strike action. No assessment has been made by the Department for Education, but we remain concerned about any impact of the strikes on students and are pleased that the action has been suspended.
We note that the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which represents UK higher education organisations as employers, polled the 56 universities that were the focus of strikes on 22 and 23 February 2018. Results of this polling indicated that the overall impact in four out of five institutions was between ‘none’ and ‘low-medium’.
The new regulator for higher education in England, the Office for Students (OfS), has recently issued guidance to students stating that it expects universities to take all reasonable steps to reduce the impact of any future strike action on teaching, learning and assessment, and to communicate clearly to students the impact of any industrial action. Universities should make clear to students how they intend to avoid or mitigate the impact of the disruption caused by strike action.
The OfS will also have the power to request information from registered higher education providers.
Universities are autonomous institutions and it is for them to assess the impact of the strike action on their provision. While the Department for Education has not made its own assessment, we remain concerned about any impact of the strikes on students and expect universities to put in place measures to maintain the quality of education that students should receive.
We note that the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, which represents UK higher education organisations as employers, polled the 56 universities, which were the focus of strikes on 22 and 23 February 2018. Results of this polling indicate that the overall impact in four out of five institutions was between ‘none’ and ‘low-medium’.
1 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
(View all Jo Swinson's Defra questions)Defra intends to provide a summary of responses and the Government response by 7 February as set out on the consultation web page.