Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the Government’s policy is on the scope of the public sector equality duty in relation to private sector organisations that provide goods and services to the public sector.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The scope of the Public Sector Equality Duty (the PSED) is set out in the Equality Act 2010 (the Act). It extends to all public authorities listed in Schedule 19 of the Act and all parties carrying out public functions. This came into force in April 2011 and includes private sector and voluntary organisations.
The PSED requires organisations in scope to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different people.
The government remains committed to upholding the PSED and ensuring that all parties exercising public functions comply with its provisions.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the paragraph 36 of the policy paper entitled Next steps to make work pay, published on 8 November 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Government’s proposals to change the statutory probation period to 9 months on Section 6a of the Model contract for special advisers, last updated on 6 November 2024.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office will consider the impact of changes to employment legislation on relevant special adviser terms and conditions.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference paragraphs 28 to 32 of the Government's response to he House of Lords Constitution Select Committee's 17th Report entitled Permanent Secretaries: their appointment and removal, HL 257, published in January 2024, whether an annual report has been produced on the work undertaken by the Senior Leadership Committee.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
As set out in the Government's response (para 31), an annual update on the work undertaken by the Senior Leadership Committee will be provided to the First Civil Service Commissioner and other members of the Committee next year. This will cover the work of the Committee in 2024.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to paragraphs 11 and 19(a) of the guidance entitled Declaration and Management of outside Interests, published on 6 November 2024, what the threshold is for determining whether a close personal relationship between two civil servants should be declared as an interest.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Any interest which could bring about a perceived, potential or actual conflict of interest should be declared. Individuals have a responsibility to consider each relationship in context and declare it if they judge this to be the case.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is to support equality of opportunity for young white working class males.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Whoever you are, wherever you come from, Britain should be a country where hard work means you can get on in life. Our work in the Opportunity Mission aims to break the link between background and success to ensure all children, including those from white working-class backgrounds, are able to achieve and thrive today so they can succeed and flourish tomorrow.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she plans to commence the caste provisions in the Equality Act 2010 as amended.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are currently considering our position on caste discrimination. We will announce our plans in due course.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to establish Riot Claims Bureaux to handle claims for recent riots.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The department is working closely with Police and Crime Commissioners to monitor the number of claims and ensure they are sufficiently supported to manage them.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of staff shortages in the hospitality sector, and if he will have discussions with representatives from the Hospitality Rising campaign in helping to addressing these shortages.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
We are in regular dialogue with the sector and are aware of the recruitment challenges facing businesses. The Hospitality Sector Council is actively looking at this issue, including working directly with the Hospitality Rising Campaign through our Hospitality and Tourism Skills Board.
The ONS publishes data on staff vacancy rates in the sector. This was most recently estimated at 7.2%, and this rate has fallen for the past 4 months.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to prevent the sale of unsafe electrical appliances on online marketplaces.
Answered by Paul Scully
Product safety legislation places obligations on manufacturers, importers and distributors to ensure that consumer products, including electrical goods, are safe before they are placed on the UK market. This applies equally to products sold online and offline.
However, Government recognises that – alongside its benefits – e-commerce has brought significant challenges. This is one of the reasons that the Government is currently reviewing the product safety framework. A Call for Evidence to inform the review ran last year, and the Government Response is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/uk-product-safety-review-call-for-evidence.
A consultation, including proposals to tackle unsafe products sold online, will be published later this year.
Alongside this, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) leads a national programme of regulatory action to tackle the risks from unsafe and non-compliant goods sold on online marketplaces. In 2021, 12,500 products were removed from supply due to OPSS interventions.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is Government policy to maintain the Universal Service Obligation for Royal Mail, including the obligation to deliver mail six days a week.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government remains committed to ensuring that the universal service obligation remains affordable and accessible to all users, and that it is financially sustainable in the longer-term. We have no plans to change the obligation to deliver mail six days a week.