Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the Government plans to increase protections against harassment in the workplace.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government has been supporting the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill first introduced in the Commons by the Hon Member for Bath.
I am delighted that Parliament has agreed the final version of the Bill on Friday 20 October and it will now receive Royal Assent.
This Bill will strengthen protections for employees against workplace sexual harassment.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to mark White Ribbon Day on 25 November.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We are considering our activity to mark the day. Last year, there was a programme of cross-Governmental activity around the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and the 16 days of activism that followed. This included Ministers across Government conducting visits, attending events, making speeches, debating these important issues in Parliament and a series of announcement on action to tackle VAWG.
Tackling VAWG is a Government priority. We have made significant progress since we published the Tackling VAWG Strategy in July 2021 and the complementary Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan in March 2022.
In July, we launched the fifth round of the Safer Streets Fund which provides an additional £43 million in funding to projects focused on protecting women in their communities across England and Wales. We also announced the launch of a new national operating model for the investigation and prosecution of rape, which all forces and CPS Areas in England and Wales are implementing to ensure investigations of rape are suspect-focused and considerate to the needs of victims.
To improve the police response to tackling these crimes, we have supported the introduction of a new full-time National Policing Lead for VAWG, DCC Maggie Blyth, and have added VAWG to the Strategic Policing Requirement, meaning it is now set out as a national threat for forces to respond to alongside other threats such as terrorism, serious and organised crime and child sexual abuse.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent steps she has taken to help close the ethnicity employment gap.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The ethnic minority employment rate is at a record high of 69.4 per cent. This is an increase of 1.1 percentage points on the previous year, and 3 percentage points above the pre-COVID rate (Jan-Mar 2019). There are now 4.9 million ethnic minority workers in employment in the United Kingdom. This is an increase of 391,000 on the previous year and is also a record high.
We want everyone to be able to find a job, progress in work and thrive in the labour market, whoever they are and wherever they live. For example, we are working with over 85 of the country's most influential employers through the Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network to widen participation in apprenticeships particularly for people from disadvantaged backgrounds and under-represented groups, including ethnic minorities.
We published Inclusive Britain in March 2022, our groundbreaking strategy to tackle negative ethnic disparities, promote unity and build a fairer Britain for all. Our update report to Parliament on 17 April set out the excellent progress we have made so far in delivering this strategy. This includes launching an Inclusion at Work Panel to tackle bias and ensure fairness, and publishing new guidance for employers on how to use positive action in the workplace and to report on ethnicity pay gaps.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing Section 3(D) of the Abortion Act 1967 in the context of potential risks presented to the health and safety of women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made of the implications for policies on the provision of abortion pills to a woman beyond the legal time limit for abortion.
The law on abortion and required standards of medical care are clear. The Department continues to work closely with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and abortion providers to ensure that abortions in England are performed in accordance with the Abortion Act 1967.
There are no plans to review Section 3(D) of the Abortion Act 1967. Parliament decided the circumstances under which abortion can legally be undertaken. It would be for Parliament to decide whether to make any changes to the law on abortion. As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance and allows hon. Members to vote according to their moral, ethical or religious beliefs.
Asked by: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the prosecution of Carla Foster for an offence under section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861; and what consideration they have given to proposing legislation to prevent similar cases from happening, in particular, by reintroducing the requirement for women to be seen in-person at least once before being issued abortion pills.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. Decisions to prosecute in England and Wales are a matter for the independent Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). As with all criminal offences, in deciding whether to bring a prosecution the CPS will apply the two-stage test in the Code for Crown Prosecutors: whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction; and whether a prosecution is needed in the public interest.
Parliament voted to amend the Abortion Act 1967 to allow women in England and Wales to take one or both pills for early medical abortion at home. Women should be given the choice to either have an in-person consultation with a clinician or to have a virtual consultation, and if eligible, will be able to take both pills for early medical abortion at home. We have been clear that abortion providers should not move to a digital by default approach.
There are no plans to review or change abortion laws. As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the government adopts a neutral stance.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference his Department's document entitled The gender pensions gap in private Pensions statistical release on 5 June 2023, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the gender pensions gap (a) overall and (b) amongst individuals with Defined Contribution pension wealth only.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government has taken significant steps to close the gender pensions gap overall and for individuals with Defined Contribution pension wealth only.
Under the new State Pension – average weekly amounts are expected to equalise for men and women reaching State Pension age in the near future – much earlier than they would have under the old system.
Automatic Enrolment brought millions of women into pension saving for the very first time with 86% of eligible women now being auto enrolled. Building on the 2017 AE review, legislation is currently progressing through Parliament. There measures will benefit over 3 million workers, around half of whom will be women.
More broadly hundreds of thousands more working parents will be supported through the extension of free childcare announced in the Spring budget, more than doubling the current support in place.
The publication of an official annual measure will help us track the collective efforts of government, industry and employers to close the Gender Pensions Gap.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve NHS sexual healthcare provision (a) nationally and (b) in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We remain committed to improving sexual and reproductive health in England. The Department published a HIV Action Plan in 2021 setting out our actions during 2022-2025 to move towards ending new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030. Great progress has been made during the first year of its implementation, as set out by the annual report to Parliament published on 7 June. In 2022 we published the Women’s Health Strategy for England setting out our 10-year ambitions and actions to improve health for women and girls.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual health services to meet local demand and individual local authorities decide on spending priorities based on an assessment of local need for sexual health services. We are providing more than £3.5 billion this financial year to local authorities through the Public Health Grant to fund public health services, including sexual health services, increasing to £3.575 billion in 2024/25.
Regarding sexual health provision in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency, Hull and East Riding have integrated sexual and reproductive health services that work to ensure that residents receive the best care, advice and treatment possible. The service continues to develop with the support of the Local Authority and the NHS to meet the needs of the communities it serves.
The Conifer Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Service is based in Hull City Centre and holds clinics at various health centres around the East Riding, including at Hessle Health Centre. It is a progressive and innovative service provided by City Health Care Partnership CIC, where Genitourinary Medicine and Family Planning, Community Gynaecology, Social Services, non-statutory services and voluntary services work together to offer a holistic service to meet the differing needs of diverse populations in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that guide dog users are protected from access refusals.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
No one should be refused access to businesses or services because they use a guide or other assistance dog.
Under the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), businesses and public bodies that provide goods and services to the public must not unlawfully discriminate against disabled people, including those with assistance dogs. The Act places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. This could include allowing the use of assistance dogs so that disabled customers have the same access to goods and services and are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled customers.
Parliament intended the Act to guide the policies of service providers, including those exercising public functions, as well as providing legal protection. Failure by a service provider to comply with the Act by making a reasonable adjustment will mean that they have unlawfully discriminated on grounds of disability.
People who feel that they have been discriminated against can use other provisions within the Act to seek redress against a non-compliant service provider, including going to Court if necessary.
This is the case for all the other protected characteristics in the Act and the Government has no plans to amend this process, which is based on the long-established civil law principle that it is for an aggrieved person to enforce the law.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will take steps to introduce enforceable penalties for businesses who refuse access to guide dog users.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
No one should be refused access to businesses or services because they use a guide or other assistance dog.
Under the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), businesses and public bodies that provide goods and services to the public must not unlawfully discriminate against disabled people, including those with assistance dogs. The Act places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. This could include allowing the use of assistance dogs so that disabled customers have the same access to goods and services and are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled customers.
Parliament intended the Act to guide the policies of service providers, including those exercising public functions, as well as providing legal protection. Failure by a service provider to comply with the Act by making a reasonable adjustment will mean that they have unlawfully discriminated on grounds of disability.
People who feel that they have been discriminated against can use other provisions within the Act to seek redress against a non-compliant service provider, including going to Court if necessary.
This is the case for all the other protected characteristics in the Act and the Government has no plans to amend this process, which is based on the long-established civil law principle that it is for an aggrieved person to enforce the law.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason pregnant women detained under the Illegal Migration Bill will not be subject to the 72 hour detention limit introduced in 2016; and what steps she has taken to assess the potential impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on pregnant women.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
It is important that we do not inadvertently create perverse incentives for evil people smuggling gangs to target particularly venerable groups. Therefore, pregnant women who come to the UK illegally and fall within the duty to remove will not be exempt from detention and removal under this Bill.
The Home Office takes the welfare of those in detention seriously. We will only detain pregnant women when it is necessary and in appropriate accommodation with appropriate healthcare provisions.
An equality impact assessment has been completed for the Illegal Migration Bill, and is available here: Illegal Migration Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.
The Home Office are not aware that any women who have been pregnant whilst in immigration detention have died during their perinatal period.