Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Halfon

Thursday 17th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

We have made an action on ethnicity pay gap reporting in the report, and we will be issuing guidance to help businesses and organisations to deliver it. What we are not going to do is mandate ethnicity pay gap reporting. It is very different from gender pay gap reporting, which is binary—male and female. Men and women are represented equally across the country. Ethnicity pay gap reporting covers multiple categories that are not necessarily applicable in each area, so mandating it in a particular way could actually end up distorting and skewing the figures. What we are going to do is support organisations that want to understand what is going on in their businesses and help to progress pay and opportunity for ethnic minorities.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

I strongly welcome the report because it will ensure that everyone, from whatever background, can climb the important ladder of opportunity. The vice-chancellor of Nottingham University should hang his head in shame for the way Tony Sewell has been treated. I genuinely find it incomprehensible that such a thing could happen, with an honorary degree being withdrawn.

My hon. Friend will know that the Education Committee produced a report into our biggest ethnic group, disadvantaged white working-class children, who underperform at every stage of the education system compared with almost every other ethnic group. They are at the bottom except for Gypsy/Roma children in terms of going on to higher education. Will my hon. Friend ensure that the report also looks at our Select Committee’s recommendations and makes sure that white working-class people from disadvantaged backgrounds are disadvantaged no longer?

[Kemi Badenoch]

My right hon. Friend is right. I have seen his Select Committee’s report, and those are things we will be working on. He is right to point out the disadvantage that children from white working-class communities face. The commission found that the issues that affect black Caribbean, black African, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian children when it comes to deprivation and disadvantage also affect white working-class communities, which is why we know that race cannot be the factor that explains many of those disparities. What I can tell him is that the solutions we have put in place will be solutions for all children. That is one of the principles we have for this report: we are not segregating or targeting specific solutions for specific communities; we are going to be looking after everybody.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Halfon

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Kemi Badenoch]

I am afraid it is not the case that nothing has been done. I have been working very closely with Ministers across Departments, looking at the very issues the hon. Lady has raised. We did launch a women’s health strategy in December, and more will be coming. She may not have noticed this, but on 23 December the Government published “Our Vision for the Women’s Health Strategy for England”, and there is far more detail to come. These are not issues on which we ever stop working, and I hope to be able to work with Members across the House to deliver on the strategy.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

T5. I have a tragic case in my constituency. A 14-year-old girl was a victim of rape, and now her attacker has been allowed to live 120 metres away from her, causing her and her family intolerable distress. Will the Minister meet me to discuss the case, and will she work with me to ensure that victims can live safe in the knowledge that their abusers will never be allowed to live near them again, and that judges will prioritise the rights of victims over their attackers?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Halfon

Monday 25th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

7. What steps his Department is taking to support towns.

[The Minister for Levelling Up Communities (Kemi Badenoch)]

The Department is investing billions in regeneration across the whole UK as part of the Government’s central priority to level up and unite our country. Programmes such as the £3.6 billion towns fund and the £4.8 billion levelling-up fund will help to achieve that by supporting the renewal of our towns and cities, including in my right hon. Friend’s constituency of Harlow, which has been awarded a £23.7 million town deal.

[Robert Halfon]

I am pleased to report to the House that almost 8,000 new apprentices have been taken on in Harlow since 2010. Does my hon. Friend agree that the best example of levelling up is providing young people with the skills they need to climb the educational ladder of opportunity? To that purpose, will she, my constituency neighbour, support our bid of £20 million to the levelling-up fund to provide vital regeneration for Harlow to help our town to grow and evolve?

[Kemi Badenoch]

As a fellow Essex MP, I am delighted that so many apprentices have taken their step towards a career in my right hon. Friend’s constituency. I know many of them will have come from my own constituency next door in Saffron Walden. It is fair to say that we both agree that equipping the next generation with the skills to compete and succeed is integral to levelling up. Having said that, I cannot comment on individual bids to our levelling-up fund—I suspect I will be saying that quite a lot during this afternoon’s session—but I will say to him that we are determined to help Harlow transform local skills and infrastructure, capitalising on his brand-new hospital, science park and, of course, the £23.7 million town deal.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Halfon

Monday 9th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Badenoch]

We are going to be looking at that as part of a review into special educational needs and disabilities, and I refer the hon. Gentleman to the written ministerial statement that we laid before Parliament today.

[Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con)]

Around 100 children in Harlow are without an education today as the Aspire Academy, run by TBAP, has closed yet again. Despite numerous meetings with Ministers and the academies commissioner, no action has yet been taken. Will my hon. Friend commit to the re-brokering of this school, so that a new academy can take it over and allow the children to return to their learning and the teachers to teaching? Mismanagement by the TBAP academy chain has gone on long enough.

[Mrs Badenoch]

An Ofsted inspection of the Aspire Academy in June 2019 rated the academy as inadequate and requiring special measures. The regional schools commissioner for east of England and north-east London issued a termination warning notice letter to TBAP, but a decision is yet to be made about the Aspire Academy and whether it will remain in the trust.

Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow

Debate between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Halfon

Tuesday 5th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon]

I am very proud that my hon. Friend and I share a constituency office and work together on an enormous range of issues. His support and backing is recognised by his constituents because they understand, as he does, that a new hospital in Harlow will benefit not just Harlow but all the surrounding areas and residents.

The hospital’s infrastructure is deteriorating. As my hon. Friend the Minister stated in response to my question on 8 May 2018, the Government

“recognise that the Princess Alexandra Hospital…is in a poor condition.—[Official Report, 8 May 2018; Vol. 640, c. 537.]

While the hospital leadership has been proactive in seeking out funding—last year, the trust secured £2 million to redesign the emergency department—long-term under- investment means that the estate is extremely fragile. A survey in 2013 said that 56% of the hospital’s estate was rated as “unacceptable or below” for its quality and physical condition.

Not only is the hospital falling apart, but the layout is unco-ordinated and problematic. To use a horrible euphemism, there are “sub-optimal clinical adjacencies”, in the words of the previous Minister. Urgent care is spread across the site due to the sporadic development of temporary structures, making it very difficult for patients seeking care to find their way around and for the hospital staff caring for them.

[Mrs Kemi Badenoch (Saffron Walden) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that short-term investment is only a bandage and a fresh overhaul is needed due to the permanently declining facilities? Does he also agree that given how many of my constituents use the Princess Alexandra, the three new garden communities that are being planned mean that we need a huge influx of investment for infrastructure in our area?