Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has submitted any proposed amendments to the revised Code of practice for services, public functions and associations to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The EHRC revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following its consultation after the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland, and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities on 4 September 2025.
The Government is considering the draft updated Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Secretary of State will lay it before Parliament over a 40 day period.
As set out in Equality Act 2006, the EHRC operates independently of the Government and is responsible for drafting and consulting on the Code. The Secretary of State is following the process in the Equality Act 2006 and is consulting the Welsh and Scottish Ministers at the relevant stages, as required under section 14(9).
The Government does not comment on legal advice it may have received. We have always been clear that there is a due process that needs to be followed by all. Our priority is getting this right. We will continue to work with the EHRC to ensure Ministers are able to make a fully informed decision.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, which external organisations or groups her Department has engaged or consulted with on the draft Code of Practice for services, public functions, and associations.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The EHRC revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following its consultation after the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland, and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities on 4 September 2025.
The Government is considering the draft updated Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Secretary of State will lay it before Parliament over a 40 day period.
As set out in Equality Act 2006, the EHRC operates independently of the Government and is responsible for drafting and consulting on the Code. The Secretary of State is following the process in the Equality Act 2006 and is consulting the Welsh and Scottish Ministers at the relevant stages, as required under section 14(9).
The Government does not comment on legal advice it may have received. We have always been clear that there is a due process that needs to be followed by all. Our priority is getting this right. We will continue to work with the EHRC to ensure Ministers are able to make a fully informed decision.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how much she has spent on legal advice pertaining to the revised Code of practice for services, public functions and associations.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The EHRC revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following its consultation after the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland, and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities on 4 September 2025.
The Government is considering the draft updated Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Secretary of State will lay it before Parliament over a 40 day period.
As set out in Equality Act 2006, the EHRC operates independently of the Government and is responsible for drafting and consulting on the Code. The Secretary of State is following the process in the Equality Act 2006 and is consulting the Welsh and Scottish Ministers at the relevant stages, as required under section 14(9).
The Government does not comment on legal advice it may have received. We have always been clear that there is a due process that needs to be followed by all. Our priority is getting this right. We will continue to work with the EHRC to ensure Ministers are able to make a fully informed decision.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will list the meetings between his Department, including the Office for Equality and Opportunity, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the implications of the For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers Supreme Court ruling since 16 April 2025.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The EHRC revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following its consultation after the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland, and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities on 4 September 2025.
The Government is considering the draft updated Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Secretary of State will lay it before Parliament over a 40 day period.
As set out in Equality Act 2006, the EHRC operates independently of the Government and is responsible for drafting and consulting on the Code. The Secretary of State is following the process in the Equality Act 2006 and is consulting the Welsh and Scottish Ministers at the relevant stages, as required under section 14(9).
The Government does not comment on legal advice it may have received. We have always been clear that there is a due process that needs to be followed by all. Our priority is getting this right. We will continue to work with the EHRC to ensure Ministers are able to make a fully informed decision.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions her Department has had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the revised Code of practice for services, public functions and associations, submitted to the Minister for Women and Equalities for approval on 5 September 2025.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The EHRC revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following its consultation after the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland, and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities on 4 September 2025.
The Government is considering the draft updated Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Secretary of State will lay it before Parliament over a 40 day period.
As set out in Equality Act 2006, the EHRC operates independently of the Government and is responsible for drafting and consulting on the Code. The Secretary of State is following the process in the Equality Act 2006 and is consulting the Welsh and Scottish Ministers at the relevant stages, as required under section 14(9).
The Government does not comment on legal advice it may have received. We have always been clear that there is a due process that needs to be followed by all. Our priority is getting this right. We will continue to work with the EHRC to ensure Ministers are able to make a fully informed decision.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what external legal advice has she sought on the revised Code of practice for services, public functions and associations, submitted to her for approval on 5 September 2025.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The EHRC revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following its consultation after the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland, and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities on 4 September 2025.
The Government is considering the draft updated Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Secretary of State will lay it before Parliament over a 40 day period.
As set out in Equality Act 2006, the EHRC operates independently of the Government and is responsible for drafting and consulting on the Code. The Secretary of State is following the process in the Equality Act 2006 and is consulting the Welsh and Scottish Ministers at the relevant stages, as required under section 14(9).
The Government does not comment on legal advice it may have received. We have always been clear that there is a due process that needs to be followed by all. Our priority is getting this right. We will continue to work with the EHRC to ensure Ministers are able to make a fully informed decision.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the cross-departmental ministerial group will next meet to discuss the violence against women and girls strategy action plan; and how that group plans to report its work to Parliament.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Ministerial Board met on Tuesday 27th January and will continue to meet regularly.
Home Office Ministers look forward to engaging with Parliament on the working of the government in implementing our Strategy ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse’, our supporting Action Plan, and our ambition to halve VAWG within a decade. This will include annual progress reports which will be published.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle anti-social behaviour in Gloucester city centre.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are strengthening the powers available to police and other relevant agencies to tackle ASB, including introducing new Respect Orders to give local agencies stronger enforcement capability to crack down on the most relentless ASB perpetrators.
Under the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, we are putting neighbourhood officers back into communities, both urban and rural, and restoring public confidence by bringing back community-led, visible policing. By the end of this parliament there will be 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel across England and Wales, including up to 3,000 additional neighbourhood officers by the end of March 2026. Gloucestershire Constabulary’s projected growth over 2025 to 2026 will be 23 police officers (FTE).
Gloucestershire Constabulary participated in the Safer Streets Summer Initiative, as part of activity to tackle anti-social behaviour, retail crime and street crime across six town centres. The force is currently participating in the Winter of Action, which builds on this work and covers twelve town centres, including Gloucester City Centre, with activity focused on anti-social behaviour, retail crime, offending linked to the night-time economy, and violence against women and girls. The full list of locations Gloucestershire has been focusing on as part of the Winter of Action can be found here: Winter of Action: location list - GOV.UK
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to prevent any increase in the number of women performing dangerous late-term abortions at home.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Parliament decided in 2022 to amend the Abortion Act 1967 to make home use of medical abortion pills a permanent option in England and Wales where the pregnancy has not exceeded 10 weeks gestation. Before pills are prescribed for an early medical abortion at home, the woman requesting the abortion will have had a consultation with a clinician either in person, by telephone, or by electronic means. If the clinician has any concerns about the gestation of the pregnancy during a telephone or electronic consultation, the woman will be asked to attend a clinic.
In June 2025, the House of Commons voted to add a clause to the Crime and Policing Bill which would decriminalise abortion for a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy. The bill will now progress through Parliament in the usual way and is currently being debated in the House of Lords. Should abortion be decriminalised for a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy these offences would still apply to medical professionals and third parties who do not abide by the rules set out in the Abortion Act 1967.
Asked by: Baroness Falkner of Margravine (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are waiting for any further regulatory information from the Equality and Human Rights Commission regarding the draft Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The EHRC revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following its consultation after the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland, and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities on 4 September 2025.
The Government is considering the draft updated Code and, if the decision is taken to approve it, the Secretary of State will lay it before Parliament. Parliament will then have a 40 day period to consider the draft Code.
The Minister is following the process in the Equality Act 2006 and consulted the Devolved Governments at the relevant stages, as required under section 14(9). Consultation with Welsh and Scottish Ministers is required if, or in so far as, the Code relates to a duty imposed by or under the Public Sector Equality Duty. As part of the consultation, the draft Code has been shared with the Devolved Administrations.
We have always been clear that there is a due process that needs to be followed by all. Our priority is getting this right. We will continue to work with the EHRC to ensure Ministers are able to make a fully informed decision.