Sexual Harassment in Parliament Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Leader of the House
Shailesh Vara
Main Page: Shailesh Vara (Conservative - North West Cambridgeshire)Department Debates - View all Shailesh Vara's debates with the Leader of the House
Sexual Harassment in Parliament
Shailesh Vara Excerpts(6 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Andrea Leadsom
The hon. Lady has been a big champion for women over several years, and I applaud her for that. She is absolutely right. The grievance procedure will need to be very clear and very well communicated. It will have to set out clearly established principles about how the procedure escalates, with very clear “So what now?” results at the end of it that everybody who participates in it can see for themselves.
Mr Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire) (Con)
Urgency is very important in how we deal with this issue. Nevertheless, will the Leader of the House confirm that it will not be dealt with simply by House officials and those working in the Palace of Westminster, but that best practice will be utilised and advice will be sought from external organisations as to how they deal with it? We need to get this right first time around.
Andrea Leadsom
Cross-party agreement and working closely with your office, Mr Speaker, are vital. Of course, the House officials themselves have some expertise in this area, but all ideas will be welcomed—bearing in mind, as a number of Members have said, that this is a very unusual workplace.