First elected: 1st May 1997
Left House: 30th May 2024 (Dissolution)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Tim Loughton, 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.
To make provision about the registration of marriage; to make provision for the extension of civil partnerships to couples not of the same sex; to make provision for a report on the registration of pregnancy loss; to make provision about the investigation of still-births; and for connected purposes.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 26th March 2019 and was enacted into law.
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 amend the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and make provision in connection with financial settlements following divorce
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to report annually on restrictions on access by UK nationals to Tibet and Xinjiang in comparison with other regions of China; to make provision to deny persons involved in imposing such restrictions permission to enter the UK; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to require Her Majesty's Government formally to recognise the Armenian genocide of 1915–23; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to provide that opposite sex couples may enter a civil partnership; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to require Her Majesty's Government formally to recognise the Armenian genocide of 1915–23; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to report annually on restrictions on access by UK nationals to Tibet in comparison with other regions of China; to make provision to deny persons involved in imposing such restrictions permission to enter the UK; and for connected purposes.
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 the Secretary of State to report annually on restrictions on access by UK nationals to Tibet in comparison with other regions of China; to make provision to deny persons involved in imposing such restrictions permission to enter the UK; and for connected purposes.
A bill to establish a Rail Ombudsman to scrutinise performance and complaints and represent the interests of passengers; to make provision for the Ombudsman to levy fines on train operating companies for late running and cancellation of trains and about the use of such fines; and for connected purposes.
A Bill To amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to provide that opposite sex couples mayenter into a civil partnership; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to provide that opposite sex couples may enter into a civil partnership; and for connected purposes.
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 amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 to provide that parents may register the death of a child stillborn before the threshold of 24 weeks gestation.
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 amend the Children (Performances) Regulations 1968 to streamline opportunities for children to take part in performances; to reduce unnecessary regulation; to clarify when a licence is required; to strengthen the emphasis on protecting children; and for connected purposes.
Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (New Drivers) Bill 2023-24
Sponsor - Kim Leadbeater (Lab)
Horticultural Peat (Prohibition of Sale) Bill 2023-24
Sponsor - Theresa Villiers (Con)
Children (Parental Imprisonment) Bill 2023-24
Sponsor - Kerry McCarthy (Lab)
Kinship Care Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Munira Wilson (LD)
Aviation Banning Orders (Disruptive Passengers) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Gareth Johnson (Con)
Supply of Drugs to Children Under 16 (Aggravated Offence) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Kevin Hollinrake (Con)
Schools and Educational Settings (Essential Infrastructure and Opening During Emergencies) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Robert Halfon (Con)
Electric Vehicle Charging Points (New Buildings) (No. 2) Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Felicity Buchan (Con)
Supported Housing (Regulation) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Kerry McCarthy (Lab)
Education Employment (Accompaniment to Hearings) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Brendan Clarke-Smith (Con)
Children (Access to Treatment) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Bambos Charalambous (Lab)
Planning (Proper Maintenance of Land) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Jonathan Gullis (Con)
Domestic Energy Efficiency Plan Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Sarah Newton (Con)
Bathing Waters Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Scott Mann (Con)
Hereditary Titles (Female Succession) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Philip Davies (Con)
Child Cruelty (Sentences) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Tom Tugendhat (Con)
Automatic Travel Compensation Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Huw Merriman (Con)
Low-level Letter Boxes (Prohibition) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Vicky Ford (Con)
Gypsy and Traveller Communities (Housing, Planning and Education) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Andrew Selous (Con)
Fetal Dopplers (Regulation) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Antoinette Sandbach (LD)
Courts (Abuse of Process) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Liz Saville Roberts (PC)
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - Liz Saville Roberts (PC)
Family Justice Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - None ()
Diplomatic Service (United Kingdom Wines and Sparkling Wines) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - None ()
Crime (Aggravated Murder of and Violence Against Women) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - None ()
I am engaging with a wide range of stakeholders who hold different views in relation to conversion practices, as are officials. We continue to consult extensively with stakeholders across the spectrum including victims, representatives from a range of religions, LGBT groups, clinicians, medical regulatory professionals, and parent groups. Our public consultation will close on 4th February and I urge all those with an interest to respond. In this way and with our wider engagement with the full range of stakeholders, victims and members of the public, we will ensure the ban is effective in ending different forms of conversion therapy.
My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade is required to exercise the power in the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc.) Act 2019 amending the eligibility criteria for civil partnerships so that the regulations come into force no later than 31 December 2019.
The regulations will be laid later this year for the 31 December deadline.
The Government published a consultation on 10 July on proposals to allow opposite-sex married couples to convert to a civil partnership. The consultation closed on 20 August and we are considering the responses to this.
We are carefully considering safeguarding issues related to reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004. We have been very clear that we are not going to be changing the existing safeguards in the Equality Act. Safeguarding is always a priority and, in line with the usual obligations on Government, any proposed new gender recognition system will be rigorously assessed in terms of its potential effect on other groups in society, as well as its implications for safeguarding processes in specific contexts, such as prisons. As part of the Gender Recognition Act consultation, we are keen to hear from respondents on these points.
Any new system that is proposed in the Government’s response to the Gender Recognition Act consultation will be subject to a full impact assessment.
This survey is intended to help us understand how many unmarried people in an opposite-sex relationship may enter into a civil partnership if the option was open to them.
Creating a new survey mechanism to ask a small number of questions would have been disproportionately time-consuming and would not have been efficient, so it was decided to use an existing polling structure.
The ONS Opinions and Lifestyle survey offered the only regular omnibus survey of the general population using a random sample, rather than drawing on pre-screened panels.
Since the start of the proceedings in 2014, the Government has spent £64,923 in legal costs as a result of this judicial review. The case is still ongoing, and so we are likely to incur further costs.
The Department has a central budget for legal costs, but does not allocate budgets to individual cases as the costs for each case varies.
The Government is committed to resolving the difference in treatment between same-sex and opposite-sex couples with respect to their ability to form a civil partnership. We want to do this as quickly as possible.
The command paper, “The Future Operation of Civil Partnership: Gathering Further Information” (Cm. 9606), details four pieces of research that the Government are undertaking to assess the demand for civil partnership and help inform a decision about their future. We will use this research to understand the total impact of a change in the law, including the cost of either extending or closing civil partnership. Our intention is to complete this research prior to a full public consultation taking place, and to use it to inform the proposed way forward. We anticipate all research will be complete by September 2019, at which point we would prepare the consultation taking account of the evidence gathered.
The command paper, “The Future Operation of Civil Partnership: Gathering Further Information” (Cm. 9606), details four pieces of research that the Government are undertaking to assess the demand for civil partnership and help inform a decision about their future. These are to:
(1) Assess trends in civil partnership and marriage formations amongst same-sex couples
(2) Undertake surveys to assess demand for civil partnership and marriage amongst unmarried people in opposite-sex relationships in the UK
(3) Undertake research into the motivations of same-sex couples who continue to choose civil partnership
(4) Review the experience of other countries to understand the choices people actually make when faced with a choice between marriage and other forms of relationship.
The command paper also commits to a full public consultation following the completion of this research.
These activities will help us to put forward a specific recommendation about how civil partnership should change in the future. This differs from previous consultations, which asked people about a range of options including maintaining the status quo
The Government carried out a consultation on the future of civil partnerships in 2014. Views were invited on three options: abolishing civil partnerships; phasing them out; or extending them to opposite sex couples.
The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. A majority of respondents to the consultation were against extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples and several significant stakeholders thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnerships until the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples is known. Given the lack of any consensus, the government did not change the Civil Partnership Act 2004.
The decision not to change the law was judicially reviewed last year and the Government won in the High Court. The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against the High Court judgment this week and confirmed that the Government’s approach is lawful.
We welcome the Court’s ruling. Before we take any action on this issue, it is right that we evaluate the impact that same sex marriage has on the take-up of civil partnerships. We will also carefully consider this judgment and its implications before deciding on our next steps.
Based on the latest publicly available data from the Office of National Statistics, since the Civil Partnership Act came into force in December 2005, the total number of civil partnerships formed in England and Wales up to the end of 2014 is 62,621.
From January 2007 to December 2014, there were 4,527 civil partnerships dissolutions in England and Wales.
A total of 7,732 couples chose to convert their existing civil partnership into a marriage in the six months between 10 December 2014 and 30 June 2015 in England and Wales.
This information is available from the Office of National Statistics: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/taxonomy/index.html?nscl=Civil+Partnerships
I refer my hon Friend to the reply given on 14 January by my Rt hon Friend the Prime Minister's answer to UIN 21952.
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to him by my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 14 January 2016 to Question 21952:
The House of Commons Commission has made no contingency arrangements in the eventuality of a majority leave vote in the upcoming EU referendum.
The Church Commissioners and the Church of England Pensions Board manage their investment portfolios using high quality well diversified and long term strategies. The Church Commissioners and Pensions Board believe that they are well positioned for any market re-pricing or uncertainty that may prevail prior to or after the referendum.
The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in the United Kingdom - so we can get a better deal for our country and secure our future. We are confident that the right agreement can be reached.
Ireferthe Right Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 14 July to the written question below.
Answer referred to:Civil Partnerships Act 2004: written question - 5833
Tim Loughton:To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has any plans to bring forward an amendment to the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 to permit opposite sex civil partnerships.
Caroline Dinenage:The Government has no plans to extend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to opposite sex couples.
The Government carried out a review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 required by The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which included a full public consultation inviting views on potential changes to civil partnership.
The Government published a report, following the review, which concluded that the Government would not make any changes.
(14 July 2015 : written question 5833)
The National Living Wage supports the UK in moving from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society.
We are working with employers in the social care sector, including care providers from the voluntary sector, to understand how the introduction of the National Living Wage will affect them.
The availability of civil partnership only to same sex couples is compatible with the Convention rights and we note that the application to the European Court of Human Rights challenging the availability of civil partnership only to same sex couples was declared inadmissible on 12 December 2013.
The Government carried out a review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 required by The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which included a full public consultation inviting views on potential changes to civil partnership.
The Government published a report, following the review, which concluded that the Government would not make any changes.
The Government has no plans to extend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 to opposite sex couples.
The Government carried out a review of the operation and future of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 required by The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which included a full public consultation inviting views on potential changes to civil partnership.
The Government published a report, following the review, which concluded that the Government would not make any changes.
There is currently no methodology to enable an estimate to be made of the number of social housing tenants who do not meet the qualification requirements for the Warm Home Discount Scheme. However, during the four years of the scheme we have not received representations to suggest that social tenants have been disproportionately unable to access the scheme.
The Government is currently considering the full implications of the decision of the European Court of Justice on the application of the VAT reduced rate to the installation of energy saving materials.
Estimates based on provisional internal analysis suggest that around 1.5% fewer households would meet the Green Deal’s Golden Rule if the VAT rate was 20% instead of 5%.
In England, most Energy Company Obligation (ECO) delivery does not involve blending with private finance or other funding streams, so there is likely to be minimal impact were there to be a VAT increase.
The Warm Home Discount scheme is established in regulations until March 2016. This is a major scheme that costs more than £300 million per year and reaches some 2 million households per year. In order to be delivered successfully, the scheme requires simple and clear rules. These include a basic requirement for customers to be named on an electricity account held with a participating supplier.
The total budget for post 19 Further Education for 2015/16 is £3,741,472,000.
We do not have any budgets beyond 2015-16 as these will be agreed in the next Spending Review.
The report on the conclusions of the Civil Partnership Review (England and Wales) was published on 26 June 2014. Copies have been placed in the House Libraries.
A majority of respondents who expressed a view on them were opposed to each of the three main changes to civil partnership. There was therefore no united call for change from respondents to the consultation at this stage.
Of the over 10,000 online survey answers to each of the relevant questions:
• Less than a third of respondents supported abolition of civil partnership
• The majority were against closing civil partnership to new couples
• Over three-quarters were against opening up civil partnership to opposite sex couples.
Several important organisations thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnership – this should wait until we know the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples. Other organisations, in contrast, put forward a case for opening up civil partnerships to opposite sex couples now, for example because civil partnership and marriage were different relationships and couples should have equal access to both.
Given the lack of consensus on the way forward, the Government will not be making any changes.
The report on the conclusions of the Civil Partnership Review (England and Wales) was published on 26 June 2014. Copies have been placed in the House Libraries.
A majority of respondents who expressed a view on them were opposed to each of the three main changes to civil partnership. There was therefore no united call for change from respondents to the consultation at this stage.
Of the over 10,000 online survey answers to each of the relevant questions:
• Less than a third of respondents supported abolition of civil partnership
• The majority were against closing civil partnership to new couples
• Over three-quarters were against opening up civil partnership to opposite sex couples.
Several important organisations thought it was too soon to consider making changes to civil partnership – this should wait until we know the impact of extending marriage to same sex couples. Other organisations, in contrast, put forward a case for opening up civil partnerships to opposite sex couples now, for example because civil partnership and marriage were different relationships and couples should have equal access to both.
Given the lack of consensus on the way forward, the Government will not be making any changes.
We announced further reforms to public procurement on 30 May to speed up payments by public bodies to small businesses. These include improvements to e-invoicing, procurement processes and greater powers for Ministers to investigate complaints raised by the Cabinet Office's ‘mystery shopper scheme'.
We have also announced new legislation that will require larger businesses to report on their payment performance and practices. Increasing transparency and driving openness is at the heart of building a more responsible payment culture that UK businesses need to thrive.
Recent research suggests that UK businesses experience an average 17 day delay to payment of invoices. This is a reduction in the past two years but a figure that is still too high and is holding back investment and growth.
The Attorney General’s Office has not allocated any funding to Stonewall in the last 5 years
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to question 21952 by my Rt. Hon Friend the Prime Minister on the 14th January.
The information requested is not collected centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 30th January is attached.
The Cabinet Office is not aware of any standalone Transgender champion roles. The role is often incorporated into the LGBT champion role which is a role appointed in addition to the individual's existing portfolio.
We are currently aware that there are 31 LGBT champions across the 44 ministerial and non-ministerial departments.
Of these 31 LGBT champions, the Cabinet Office as a department has one LGBT champion.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon Gentleman's Parliamentary Question of 5 June is attached.
The Cabinet Office has not engaged with Global Butterflies and has not funded any of their projects.
The Guidance for the Disposal of Surplus Land has been withdrawn as, in part, it has been overtaken by updated policy and standards, including the recently updated Government Functional Standard for Property, published in September 2021.
The Cabinet Office is advised on the management of designated heritage assets in its portfolio by Historic England’s Government Historic Estate Unit. Further details can be found here: https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/our-planning-services/advice-for-government-historic-estates/
The Cabinet Office does not collect or collate data on the value (property value) or income data for these assets.
I apologise for the delay in responding to the important points my Hon. friend has raised on behalf of his constituents. We recognise the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.
The letter received on 5 February 2021 has been passed to the Department for International trade, as the Department best placed to provide a helpful response.
Lord Frost has now responded to the letter dated 25 March, and Lord Agnew has responded to letters dated 22 January, 26 January, 9 February and 11 February.
Lord Agnew will be responding to the remaining letters, dated 22 January and 31 March. I would like to reassure my Hon. friend that responses are in progress and will be issued as soon as possible.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
This issue cuts across multiple departmental responsibilities, as is the case for many complex concerns, and therefore engages various Ministers including in DfE, DHSC and DWP.
Details of Ministerial responsibilities can be found on GOV.UK.
The previous Leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom, laid out the recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Early Years on 16 July 2019. This Government is fully committed to supporting working families, and their children. Relevant Secretaries of State will take into account the work of the Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Early Years as the government moves forward with this agenda.
The information requested falls within the responsiblity of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
On Monday, I spoke at the Social Value Summit, where I outlined our commitment to recognising social value in major government procurements. Social Impact Bonds, which this Government has pioneered since 2010, are an important part of our commitment to social value, and we encourage contracting authorities to use them in public procurement wherever appropriate.
EU Withdrawal Agreement public information advertising ran on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Available spend data for all government public information advertising on the above platforms to support campaigns including teacher recruitment, blood donation, public health and more, for the period January-October, is as follows:
Facebook: £11,402,996.21
LinkedIn: £873.593.26
Twitter: £1,753,100.89
Information is not held for 2014
2015 social media spend: £11,503,936.53
2016 social media spend: £13,254,798.19
2017 social media spend: £17,963,664.31
2018 social media spend (Jan-Oct): £16,408,949.69
The Cabinet Office Implementation Unit supports the Prime Minister by tracking the delivery of the Government's programme. It is not the practice of the Government to disclose internal advice to Ministers.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.