Oral Answers to Questions

Perran Moon Excerpts

Wednesday 9th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Stephen Timms]

Better outcomes require early identification and support for girls and young women with special educational needs, including dyslexia. That is the aim of the SEND reforms and the development of national inclusion standards. We will be supporting education providers to identify and respond to needs earlier and more consistently, drawing on a broad range of evidence and expertise, so that girls and young women can receive the support they need in good time to achieve and to thrive.

[Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Bridget Phillipson)]

I am proud to be standing here as the first ever stand-alone Cabinet Minister for Women and Equalities.

The heart of this Government’s ambition is to bring hope back to communities. It is the promise that whatever someone’s background, and wherever they are from, ours is a country where they will be able to get on, follow their dreams and succeed in life. Therefore, I am announcing today a new class unit in Government to deliver on that promise. We have been squeamish about class for too long, yet we know that it is a deep barrier to opportunity. The work of the Social Mobility Commission will be brought into the heart of Government, as we get Britain believing once again.

[Perran Moon]

Conversion practices are a form of abuse, and this Government were elected on a manifesto commitment to ban them. While I welcome the publication of the draft Bill in June and the commitment by the Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield and Rothwell (Simon Lightwood), that there will be a Committee by the end of January, can the Secretary of State appreciate the frustration of many that the process of banning this abuse is taking so long?

[Bridget Phillipson]

As my hon. Friend the Minister set out earlier, this Government published our draft Conversion Practices Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny in June, and we will shortly confirm the members of the Joint Committee. It is an incredibly important piece of legislation and a safeguard for LGBT people. I look forward to working with all Members of this House on this important legislation to ensure that a ban is effective in targeting these abusive and harmful practices that have no place in modern Britain.