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tackle this. We know what it can lead to and therefore we have to | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
stamp it out before it becomes something even more vile. | :00:00. | :00:07. | |
THE SPEAKER: Questions to the minutester for women and equal -- | :00:08. | :00:11. | |
Minister for Women and equalities. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am proud | :00:12. | :00:14. | |
of... Number one. Thank you, Mr Speaker. As the House | :00:15. | :00:30. | |
has just been discussing hate crime of any kind, including that targeted | :00:31. | :00:37. | |
at communities has no place in our society. I am sure I speak for the | :00:38. | :00:43. | |
whole House when I say how appalled I am. The Government is monitoring | :00:44. | :00:47. | |
this situation, working across Government departments and also with | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and community partners too | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
to provide reassurance and to send out a clear message that hate crime | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
will not be tolerated and we will take action against those who | :01:00. | :01:05. | |
promote hatred. I am proud of the neath partnership | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
which has been working to counter the rise in hate crime, more | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
prevalent since the referendum by holding hate crime sessions. We | :01:17. | :01:20. | |
should all say no to hate crime. What steps is the minister taking to | :01:21. | :01:27. | |
adopt this practise and roll it out across the country to heal | :01:28. | :01:33. | |
divisions? Communities? I will be interested to talk to her about the | :01:34. | :01:38. | |
community she is in. She highlights one of the most effective things we | :01:39. | :01:42. | |
can do is to work at community level to spread a message of inclusion and | :01:43. | :01:48. | |
acceptance andal rans across our society. So the broader work which | :01:49. | :01:52. | |
is happening in Government is not just through policing and the Home | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
Office, it is also through DCLG and in my Department of Education | :01:59. | :02:02. | |
through schools. Can I welcome my Right Honourable | :02:03. | :02:05. | |
friend to her position. Does she feel, as I do, that we should be | :02:06. | :02:12. | |
looking at online hate crime, which is often where people can suffer the | :02:13. | :02:19. | |
most? Does she believe, as I do, the platforms and social media outlets | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
should do more to standardise reporting in this area? And take | :02:23. | :02:25. | |
more action against the perpetrators? | :02:26. | :02:32. | |
I agree that the online element of this crime is important to address. | :02:33. | :02:40. | |
One of the things the government has done is to strengthen online | :02:41. | :02:43. | |
reporting and part of the increase in hate crime came through that tool | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
that we set up, that website where people can more effectively report | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
online. She is right to say that there are different channels where | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
we see hate crimes perpetrated and all of them need a strong response. | :02:57. | :03:06. | |
The Minister's and is on online hate crime is welcome but given the level | :03:07. | :03:13. | |
of bile and hatred that exists in certain parts of social media, it is | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
essential that law enforcement agencies chase this down, with | :03:18. | :03:23. | |
specific cases brought to court to ensure that there is no hiding place | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
for this behaviour on social media. I agree with him. As crime moves on | :03:29. | :03:35. | |
to different forms, including online, that the CPS, collectively, | :03:36. | :03:41. | |
take strong action and show that this sort of attitude across our | :03:42. | :03:45. | |
country will not be tolerated, and where ever it raises its head, we | :03:46. | :03:51. | |
will take action against it. It may be a special occasion when all 12 | :03:52. | :03:55. | |
members of both the government and opposition front bench as are | :03:56. | :04:01. | |
female. Mr Speaker, last night, Kettering Borough Council last | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
motion condemning racism, xenophobia and hate crime. I am proud to be a | :04:07. | :04:12. | |
member of Kettering Borough Council and do have supported that motion. | :04:13. | :04:16. | |
Would my Right Honourable Friend and courage other local authorities to | :04:17. | :04:24. | |
do the same? The merit in making the point about the make-up of the front | :04:25. | :04:27. | |
bench is that it is now on the record in Hansard for ever. | :04:28. | :04:33. | |
Minister. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Perhaps appropriate given | :04:34. | :04:40. | |
it is questions for women and the qualities in particular. I should | :04:41. | :04:42. | |
say that when we decide as a government to draw across government | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
departments to answer this question there was no attempt to make sure | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
that we had an all - woman list of ministers to answer questions, but I | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
think it shows how things are changing in Parliament in terms of | :04:56. | :04:58. | |
female representation and, alongside the fact we have as of last week got | :04:59. | :05:04. | |
away second female Prime Minister. To come to My Honourable Friend was | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
Mike very important question, I'd like to applaud Kettering Borough | :05:10. | :05:13. | |
Council for its strong stance against racism. I think part of how | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
we can ensure that we stamp out hate crime and racism generally is, not | :05:19. | :05:24. | |
only to work strongly on the ground, but those people in positions of | :05:25. | :05:28. | |
authority, community leaders included, need to advocate of the | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
kind of society, the kind of inclusive society that we all want. | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
So those steps that Kettering Borough Council has taken are | :05:38. | :05:39. | |
particularly well Act and I hope that other councils follow suit. -- | :05:40. | :05:50. | |
welcome. It was amazing to see people of multi-faith and no faith | :05:51. | :05:54. | |
engaging together through sport and other activities. Does the Minister | :05:55. | :05:57. | |
agree that these events should be encouraged where possible in these | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
troubled times where we are seen an alarming rise in hate crime? Yes, I | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
think we all have our own experience at constituency level. My local | :06:08. | :06:17. | |
Amadiyah Muslim community holds an event that brings together all sides | :06:18. | :06:20. | |
of the community and those fundraising that benefits the | :06:21. | :06:24. | |
Amadiyah community stop these are the kinds of community leadership I | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
was referring to. As MPs we can play a real role in encouraging and | :06:30. | :06:32. | |
supporting that when we see happening in narrowing the Cal at | :06:33. | :06:41. | |
is. -- in our own localities. I am really proud to be one of the women | :06:42. | :06:45. | |
on the front bench, if we have got an all women front bench. It seems | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
that we might be taking over the world, slowly but surely. Which is | :06:50. | :06:55. | |
fantastic. We have heard from many members on all sides of the House | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
that there's been a dramatic wave of hate crime and intolerance towards | :07:00. | :07:08. | |
EU nationals and members of the McAfee community living in the UK. I | :07:09. | :07:12. | |
have been encouraged by members of the public who have challenged this | :07:13. | :07:15. | |
behaviour and shown what a great multicultural Britain we are, but | :07:16. | :07:19. | |
like many across this House and the country I was dismayed and upset by | :07:20. | :07:27. | |
the Sun columnist Kelvin MacKenzie's disgraceful Islamophobia attack on | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
the Channel 4 News presenter Fatima Manji. Could we explain that all | :07:33. | :07:39. | |
members of the South Regardez comments as unacceptable and all the | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
Minister join me in urging Mr MacKenzie to make a full public | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
apology and urge the Sun newspaper and other media to be more | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
responsible in what they allow on their media outlets Butt never again | :07:52. | :07:59. | |
must she ask such a long question. It was far too long, albeit very | :08:00. | :08:04. | |
important. Minister. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. She raises an | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
important question. Not the first time that John MacKenzie has written | :08:10. | :08:14. | |
and said things that are on the controversial -- Kelvin MacKenzie. I | :08:15. | :08:22. | |
think it is for him to decide how he wants to respond to the wave of | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
criticism he has received since writing that article. From my | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
perspective am I am proudly live in a country where men and women are | :08:33. | :08:35. | |
equal, but that includes women having the right to be able to wear | :08:36. | :08:39. | |
what they want and to be able to get on in their job, wearing what they | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
want to be able to wear, and that includes needs -- newscasters and | :08:45. | :08:51. | |
journalists, in my view. We need to have some kind of consensus around | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
not rising to the bait of people like Kelvin MacKenzie and I hope | :08:57. | :09:02. | |
that we can give his comments the derision that they deserve. The | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
Minister has put the bigoted fellow in its place pretty comprehensively. | :09:09. | :09:16. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker, with permission I will answer questions | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
two, three and ten together. We have reformed the pension system to | :09:22. | :09:24. | |
introduce a simple estate pension with automatic and Roman, the triple | :09:25. | :09:29. | |
lock, protection of benefits and new pension freedoms will ensure that | :09:30. | :09:33. | |
engineers, both women and men have greater protection, security and | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
choice. -- that pensioners. I thank the Minister for that answer. The | :09:40. | :09:49. | |
new state pension will see, a man born on the same day slightly later | :09:50. | :09:53. | |
but was received pensions under the new arrangements. Sugar Pensions | :09:54. | :10:00. | |
Minister -- pensions commission be established to end these | :10:01. | :10:04. | |
inequalities? I thank the honourable gentleman for his welcome. ?1.1 | :10:05. | :10:09. | |
billion was committed to reduce the maximum delay anyone with experience | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
in claiming their state ancient. As a result of the government's triple | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
lock, the basic state pension has risen by ?570 per year. The | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
government position on this policy is very clear. The current review by | :10:23. | :10:29. | |
John Criddle and into the state ancient age is critical to ensure | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
that the existing inequalities in the current pension system do not | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
plague future retirees. Does the Mr agree that the leader strip is in | :10:38. | :10:42. | |
life expectancy such as those amongst the poorest women in society | :10:43. | :10:45. | |
and across UK regions must be closely examined to prevent gender | :10:46. | :10:55. | |
inequality? I absolutely agree. It is important to prevent gender | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
inequality. But we must acknowledge that across the country people are | :11:00. | :11:03. | |
living longer, and if we want to have a sustainable, affordable | :11:04. | :11:06. | |
ancient system we must equalise the state pension age for men and women. | :11:07. | :11:13. | |
-- pension system. Mr Speaker, for get the triple lock and other | :11:14. | :11:18. | |
measures that the Minister promoted, the simple fact is, according to the | :11:19. | :11:24. | |
Institute for Fiscal Studies, 14% of women in future will receive a law | :11:25. | :11:27. | |
income at state pension age than they would have otherwise under the | :11:28. | :11:31. | |
current system. What discussion is the Minister having with colleagues | :11:32. | :11:35. | |
from the DWP to prevent this from happening? The new state pension is | :11:36. | :11:42. | |
more generous to many women. Over 3 million women stand to gain ?550 per | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
year more by 2030 as a result of these changes. Can I take this up | :11:48. | :11:57. | |
unused -- this chance to -- to welcome the Minister to her place? | :11:58. | :12:03. | |
As a fellow feminist she will agree that the generation of women were | :12:04. | :12:06. | |
talking about is our mothers are what the generation who broken the | :12:07. | :12:13. | |
barriers on equal pay. What message does it send to a future generation | :12:14. | :12:16. | |
burdened by student debt, what incentive is there for younger women | :12:17. | :12:24. | |
to save for their future? I thank the honourable lady for her welcome. | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
In fact what we have seen from the reforms the government has made is | :12:29. | :12:31. | |
that woman of her age and my age are doing more now to save for their | :12:32. | :12:35. | |
future than ever before. It is important to reflect that some of | :12:36. | :12:38. | |
the previous arrangements dating back to the 1940s, and the world has | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
moved on an incredible amount since that time and I would argue, | :12:44. | :12:51. | |
absolutely for the better. Thank you, Mr Speaker. With your | :12:52. | :12:54. | |
permission I am going to group this question with questions five and | :12:55. | :13:00. | |
seven. This area is a real success story. We have more women on boards | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
than ever before but we know we have got to do more. I fully endorse the | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
target of 33% of women on FTSE 250 boards by 2020. To achieve this we | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
have established the Hampton Alexander review which will have a | :13:17. | :13:19. | |
focus on improving gender representation in the all important | :13:20. | :13:28. | |
executive lair of FTSE complete. The statutory mail on the government | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
front bench. I would have invited the member for Shipley, but I | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
suspect that might have been a divisible proposition. Mr Andrew | :13:38. | :13:44. | |
Stevenson. I thank the Minister for that answer. Does the Minister agree | :13:45. | :13:51. | |
that the 33% target of women on FTSE 250 boards is achievable? I do, | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
absolutely. There will be some steps we need to take but so far the | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
proposal of working voluntarily with as this has seen some real progress, | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
and we have seen a doubling of women on boards in the FTSE 350 boards to | :14:07. | :14:18. | |
23% now from 2010. And the number of all-male board has dropped from 152, | :14:19. | :14:27. | |
252, today. I expect that we can meet this ambitious and achievable | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
target by 2020. Can I congratulate the front bench on its fantastic, | :14:32. | :14:39. | |
it's fantastically women representation on the front bench as | :14:40. | :14:43. | |
well. Kent University is taking the lead in having almost half of the | :14:44. | :14:47. | |
board of governors being women. What is her department doing to ensure | :14:48. | :14:51. | |
that more women in senior leadership roles at universities? I should | :14:52. | :14:59. | |
start biking graduating Weymouth University for making what is | :15:00. | :15:03. | |
fantastic progress. -- biking graduating Weymouth University. A | :15:04. | :15:10. | |
third of governing bodies are now gender balanced. It is good that we | :15:11. | :15:17. | |
now have the high education funding Council for England which has set an | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
aspirational target of 40% of women on governing bodies. There is an | :15:23. | :15:30. | |
Athena Swan Charter Mark which is something that I strongly support. I | :15:31. | :15:38. | |
would like to congratulate the Secretary of State. She's long been | :15:39. | :15:42. | |
a role model to many women and I know that when she came to | :15:43. | :15:44. | |
Parliament in 2005 it look very different ways. May I ask the | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
Secretary of State what her department is doing to ensure that | :15:50. | :15:52. | |
women across the UK, not just in London, have access to senior | :15:53. | :15:58. | |
executive roles, and can she reassure me that these women will be | :15:59. | :16:01. | |
encouraged not just into traditional sect is usually occupied by women? | :16:02. | :16:09. | |
There are two parts to the question. First, we have extended the women's | :16:10. | :16:13. | |
business Council to 20 members, including organisations based in | :16:14. | :16:16. | |
Scotland and Wales, so we are expanding and making sure that the | :16:17. | :16:21. | |
geographical focus is UK wide, and we are changing so that it has got | :16:22. | :16:25. | |
greater representation of the kinds of industries she's talked about, | :16:26. | :16:29. | |
such as engineering, defence and construction. A good example of that | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
is the Halfords group which is based in the West Midlands whose board is | :16:35. | :16:40. | |
50% women, and in fact their Chief Executive is female, too, and we | :16:41. | :16:42. | |
have got to champion best practice. Will the government lead by example | :16:43. | :16:47. | |
and increasing the number of women in senior management roles in its | :16:48. | :16:51. | |
departments, agencies and other organisations with which it has an | :16:52. | :16:58. | |
influence, including the NHS? We are certainly going to try to make sure | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
that we lead by example. The fact that we have our second female Prime | :17:04. | :17:07. | |
Minister is a very, very good, strong and historic start. As she | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
recognises, the public sector needs to make progress in this, as does | :17:13. | :17:14. | |
the private sector. The minister has mentioned getting | :17:15. | :17:26. | |
female representation in the boardrooms. It is a fact and | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
researched by the Guardian that there are more men called "John" and | :17:31. | :17:37. | |
a fine name it s Mr Speak e that our bosses in the FTSE-100 companies | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
than there are women all together running those companies too. So, | :17:42. | :17:46. | |
what more can this Government do to make sure that women actually see it | :17:47. | :17:52. | |
as their role to run FTSE-100 companies? He's right to point out | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
the problem. In spite of the progress, the reality is if you look | :17:58. | :18:02. | |
at the FTSE 350 companies, only 18 of them have female CEOs. What we | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
need to do is make sure that women are aiming high, but also ensure | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
that, for example, when women have children and come back into the | :18:13. | :18:16. | |
workplace, that their careers are not hindered by that and indeed they | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
can still go on and get to the very top. | :18:21. | :18:30. | |
318 female executive women run 238 across genders. 122 held roles where | :18:31. | :18:39. | |
they heldfy man shall -- held financial roles. | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
Well, I really welcome that question as somebody whose background is | :18:45. | :18:51. | |
being a chartered accountantment actually some of the accounting | :18:52. | :18:56. | |
firms have done great work on pulling through their best and | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
brightest women. It is seeing women in the roles which are pivotal on a | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
board. That is the next step we want to see companies take. | :19:06. | :19:09. | |
Thank you. Can I welcome my Right Honourable friend to her post. She | :19:10. | :19:13. | |
is there on merit and the Conservative Party have shown that | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
women can get to the very top by merit. So, when she's looking at | :19:18. | :19:21. | |
these particular issues, can she give me an assurance that merit will | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
always be the deciding factor on whether people are promoted to a | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
role or not, irrespective of people's gender, race or sexual | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
inclination, that we are recruiting people, recruiters should be blind | :19:36. | :19:39. | |
to those things? Well, I have great news for him. There are plenty of | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
fantastic women out there who are ready, willing and able to get into | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
those top jobs. I can assure him there'll be no come poem on -- | :19:49. | :19:53. | |
compromise on merit. We might see a raising of the performance levels. | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
Six, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Mr Speaker, the | :19:59. | :20:07. | |
Government set out the assessment of the welfare policies in the well | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
form and work act. Every Government policy change is carefully | :20:13. | :20:15. | |
considered in line with the legal obligations. | :20:16. | :20:21. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. In gender have said from 2010, 26 billion of | :20:22. | :20:29. | |
cuts have been made. 86% of that figure has come from women's income. | :20:30. | :20:32. | |
The statement made by the Secretary of State for work and mention | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
concludes the child policy are carrying on. That will also have an | :20:38. | :20:42. | |
effect on women's incomes. What is she doing to redress that balance? | :20:43. | :20:47. | |
I thank the honourable lady for that question. It is really important to | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
reflect on the economic statistics. There are more women in work than | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
ever before. With the roll out of universal credit it will be a | :20:57. | :20:59. | |
position where being in work pays. It is important to focus on the | :21:00. | :21:02. | |
reforms we have made are assessing people into work and making sure | :21:03. | :21:05. | |
that women are at the forefront of that. | :21:06. | :21:11. | |
Mr Speaker, the minister will be aware of the continuing concern | :21:12. | :21:18. | |
across the United Kingdom on welfare proposals on women with young | :21:19. | :21:23. | |
families. Will she keep under review that continuing concern right across | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
the entire country to ensure that there's no continuing disadvantage | :21:28. | :21:30. | |
to females, particularly with young families? The honourable gentleman | :21:31. | :21:36. | |
makes a really important point about women with families and the | :21:37. | :21:39. | |
childcare support that this Government has invested in, doubling | :21:40. | :21:46. | |
free care child from 15 to 30 hours for 15,000 working parents for three | :21:47. | :21:50. | |
and four year olds. Is an example of how we are making sure that women | :21:51. | :21:55. | |
can get back into work. Can I welcome the Secretary of State | :21:56. | :22:02. | |
and all new anyone ministers and existing ministers to their place. | :22:03. | :22:08. | |
Priority to Brexit it was said it was could ?36 billion to tax every | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
year, not just public services, it will be our jobs, livelihoods and | :22:14. | :22:19. | |
those on low incomes. We know that 80% of wells fall on women. Can the | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
minister assure me these cuts will not fall on women's shoulders? | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
What we are very conscious of is the honourable lady would have heard the | :22:31. | :22:33. | |
Prime Minister say yesterday we have to make the changes which will come | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
about as a result of the EU referendum work for everybody across | :22:38. | :22:40. | |
society and of course that includes women. | :22:41. | :22:47. | |
Thank you. The Equality and Human Rights Commission performs a very | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
important and valuable role. Its appointed the chair and board are | :22:54. | :22:56. | |
well equipped. The commission receives and will continue to | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
receive sufficient funds to enable it to fulfil its full range of | :23:01. | :23:04. | |
statutory duties. I thank the minister for her answer. Can he stop | :23:05. | :23:10. | |
the rumour there are cuts on the way to the HRC budget. 69% down on what | :23:11. | :23:17. | |
it was in 2010. In this climate of post Brexit racism of employment fee | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
charges, is needed more now than ever. It is operating on less than | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
the old Disability Rights Commission, which is only one part | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
of its multiple good works. Mr Speaker, I am very happy to Scottish | :23:32. | :23:38. | |
these rumours when the ERHC was established in 2007 it was done | :23:39. | :23:42. | |
without a full understanding of what it would need from a budgetary point | :23:43. | :23:46. | |
of view. Nearly ten years later we have a better understanding of the | :23:47. | :23:49. | |
running costs and constituency costs of that organisation. It did have a | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
reduction in function in 2013. They have had to make significant | :23:54. | :23:57. | |
savings. At each stage they have done so after huge discussions | :23:58. | :24:03. | |
between our ministry and the ERHC. They are not discussing -- disputing | :24:04. | :24:07. | |
they will be able to fulfil their statutory functions to the highest | :24:08. | :24:10. | |
possible standard. Thank you. With permission I will | :24:11. | :24:17. | |
answer questions nine and 11 together. Spending to support people | :24:18. | :24:20. | |
with disabilities and health conditions will be higher in real | :24:21. | :24:25. | |
terms in every year to 2020 than it was in 2010. The Government set out | :24:26. | :24:30. | |
our assessment of the impact of the welfare policies and work act with | :24:31. | :24:34. | |
similar assessments for previous changes. | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
Mr Speaker, can UN committee on economic and cultural rights called | :24:40. | :24:43. | |
for this Government's regressive cuts to social security to be | :24:44. | :24:48. | |
reversed and for a comprehension assessment on their impact on | :24:49. | :24:52. | |
vulnerable women, children and disabled people. Will she commit to | :24:53. | :24:57. | |
raising these concerns with her colleagues so these shameful cuts | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
are abandoned? I thank the honourable lady for her question. | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
Spending on the main disability benefits went up by ?3 billion in | :25:06. | :25:09. | |
real terms over the course of the last Parliament. Spending on dip and | :25:10. | :25:15. | |
DLA will be higher than spending was on DLA in 20106789 our welfare | :25:16. | :25:22. | |
reforms will ensure the billions we spend better reflect today's | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
understanding of disability and it will enable disabled people to live | :25:27. | :25:28. | |
independent lives. Thank you. Can I give a personal | :25:29. | :25:34. | |
welcome to the minister, a former colleague on the education Select | :25:35. | :25:36. | |
Committee. The minister will be aware of the long promised work and | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
health programme from our Government and that disabled people are still | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
awaiting publication of the green paper to map out what employment | :25:46. | :25:48. | |
support will be made available for those with disabilities. Does the | :25:49. | :25:54. | |
minister agree with me that her Government must now map out the time | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
line for publication and ensure sufficient funding is made available | :25:59. | :26:05. | |
for disabled people who have born the brunt of austerity cuts I thank | :26:06. | :26:10. | |
the lady for her welcome. I very much enployed -- enjoyed the time we | :26:11. | :26:15. | |
spent on the education committee together. We will produce the paper | :26:16. | :26:21. | |
to build a strategy which will work for them. It is critically important | :26:22. | :26:25. | |
that we get more disabled people into work. I spent time before the | :26:26. | :26:29. | |
general election as a PPS to the minister for disabled people. I know | :26:30. | :26:32. | |
how hard he worked to promote disability confident, to make sure | :26:33. | :26:37. | |
we have good examples and companies we can champion who show that | :26:38. | :26:39. | |
bringing disabled people into work is not only good for disabled people | :26:40. | :26:44. | |
but good for the economy and good for individual companies. | :26:45. | :26:48. | |
Number one, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am | :26:49. | :26:52. | |
delighted to be able to stand at the dispatch box today as the Minister | :26:53. | :26:56. | |
for Women and equalities. I want the House to know this Government is one | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
which is committed to tackling inequality wherever it exists so we | :27:02. | :27:04. | |
can have a country for everyone. We want to see opportunity levelled up. | :27:05. | :27:08. | |
We should never accept the status quo in a society where there are | :27:09. | :27:16. | |
still some of our girls undergoing FGM. Where home phobic bullying | :27:17. | :27:23. | |
takes place. It was a part of my work and I will bring all that | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
passion and practicality to my role as Minister for Women and | :27:29. | :27:31. | |
equalities. Can I welcome the new Secretary of | :27:32. | :27:36. | |
State to her place? She will no doubt have heard the Prime Minister | :27:37. | :27:39. | |
say in answer to my colleague's question, which was more to do with | :27:40. | :27:43. | |
violence against women, it is the best way to ratify the Istanbul | :27:44. | :27:49. | |
convention. Will the new Secretary of State support my honourable | :27:50. | :27:54. | |
friend's bill which commits the Government to do more by ratifying | :27:55. | :27:58. | |
the convention? I take on board the points he made. I spent much of the | :27:59. | :28:03. | |
last three-and-a-half years internationally pressing for | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
stronger action to combat violence against women and girls, including | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
being at the commission on status of women earlier this year, in March, | :28:12. | :28:16. | |
where I was with my honourable friend, the minister for equalities. | :28:17. | :28:20. | |
He is right to highlight this issue. I will get back to him with an | :28:21. | :28:26. | |
updated Government position. I welcome the Ministry of Defence's | :28:27. | :28:29. | |
decision to allow women to fight on the front line. Can I ask my | :28:30. | :28:33. | |
honourable friend the minister to explain what steps the Government | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
will take to encourage women to take up these new posts? Well, as he has | :28:38. | :28:43. | |
pointed out, there is the recent decision enables women to serve in | :28:44. | :28:49. | |
the Royal Marines t royal armoured corps, infantry, so they will be | :28:50. | :28:54. | |
able to fill those close ground combat roles. With reputting in a | :28:55. | :29:00. | |
range of activity, including improved processes. There is a | :29:01. | :29:04. | |
target of 15% of all recruitments to be female by 2020. | :29:05. | :29:10. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. The Government took six long Mondays to | :29:11. | :29:16. | |
release its response to women and equalities into transgender | :29:17. | :29:21. | |
equality. The LGB campaigners have called the Government's response | :29:22. | :29:25. | |
lots of precise words signifying nothing. Why did the Government | :29:26. | :29:34. | |
reject the main recommendations, regarded transpeople should be | :29:35. | :29:39. | |
changed to gender identity? Well, Mr Speaker, I do refute that. | :29:40. | :29:46. | |
The response to the committee took representation from over 12 | :29:47. | :29:50. | |
different Government departments and Government bodies. I was a | :29:51. | :29:54. | |
comprehensive piece of work and many of the recommendations were accepted | :29:55. | :29:57. | |
and followed up. Not least the can commitment to look at gender | :29:58. | :30:02. | |
recognition act, one of the things that transpeople tell me is the most | :30:03. | :30:06. | |
disturbing, long-winded and in much need of reform. This department | :30:07. | :30:11. | |
takes very, very seriously our commitment to transpeople. | :30:12. | :30:18. | |
Will my honourable friend join me in congratulating the organisers of the | :30:19. | :30:22. | |
2016 Essex women's business experience and networking event in | :30:23. | :30:26. | |
Southend? Will her department do all they can to help and encourage women | :30:27. | :30:32. | |
set up their own businesses? Mr Speaker, I am delighted to hear | :30:33. | :30:36. | |
about the success of the experience, which I am told offered a range of | :30:37. | :30:43. | |
networks and opportunities to inspire entrepreneur. The Government | :30:44. | :30:49. | |
is working very hard to support them with not least a 2.2 million woman | :30:50. | :30:56. | |
in broadband package to help women engage the confident they need to | :30:57. | :30:59. | |
start their own businesses. Can I welcome the Secretary of State | :31:00. | :31:05. | |
to her place? A report published this week detailed by 2014, 2015 | :31:06. | :31:11. | |
two-thirds of children classified as living under the poverty line where | :31:12. | :31:16. | |
from families where one parent was in work. Should the Government | :31:17. | :31:21. | |
commit to abandoning the cuts to work allowances which will see low | :31:22. | :31:26. | |
to income families who are struggling to keep their heads above | :31:27. | :31:34. | |
water struggle focus on eleaving these households. One of the most | :31:35. | :31:38. | |
important things we have seen happen under this Government and the last | :31:39. | :31:41. | |
Government was a dramatic fall in unemployment and in the end, as I no | :31:42. | :31:45. | |
efrom my own childhood experience, where my dad spent a year | :31:46. | :31:48. | |
unemployed, the most important thing we can do to combat poverty is to | :31:49. | :31:54. | |
create jobs. She is right to say we want to go beyond that and see | :31:55. | :31:58. | |
people doing better in work. It is not only the right thing for them to | :31:59. | :32:05. | |
do and their own household circumstances, the smart thing | :32:06. | :32:19. | |
In September, I am hosting the first engineering festival. Will the | :32:20. | :32:27. | |
Secretary of State join me there? Well, this Wiltshire festival of | :32:28. | :32:31. | |
engineering does sound like a great initiative. I would be delighted if | :32:32. | :32:35. | |
she could send me details and I will see if I can come along to it. The | :32:36. | :32:41. | |
good news is there is 13,000 more entries by girls to maths and A | :32:42. | :32:47. | |
levels compared to 2010. We need to do more to challenge the per | :32:48. | :32:53. | |
sections which put girls off from doing these subjects. The number of | :32:54. | :33:00. | |
organisations have conveyed disdisappointment at the committee | :33:01. | :33:06. | |
transgender enquiry. Stone wall's insistent and further evidence | :33:07. | :33:09. | |
believing it has sufficient evidence to take proper action. Does the | :33:10. | :33:13. | |
minister accept the assessment that this has been a lost opportunity to | :33:14. | :33:19. | |
ensure that all trans people are clearly protected and will she | :33:20. | :33:24. | |
commit to working them and others to achieve true equality for all | :33:25. | :33:27. | |
trans-people? Well, yes, Mr Speaker. Once again I | :33:28. | :33:32. | |
refute the allegations that this has been a missed opportunity. We have | :33:33. | :33:35. | |
taken on board so many of the recommendations. It with was | :33:36. | :33:39. | |
ground-breaking piece of work. It has encouraged 12 different | :33:40. | :33:41. | |
Government bodies and organisations to look at what they do and makes | :33:42. | :33:46. | |
some strong commitments to the transgender population and we | :33:47. | :33:50. | |
support them and we are looking out for their needs. The Secretary of | :33:51. | :33:54. | |
State said she was committed to stamping out inequality and the | :33:55. | :33:58. | |
Government was committed to stamping out inequality. One of the starkest | :33:59. | :34:03. | |
areas is on sentencing. For every single category of offence a man is | :34:04. | :34:06. | |
more likely to be sent to prison than a woman. To give an example, | :34:07. | :34:12. | |
for child cruelty and neglect. 33% of men convicted were sent to | :34:13. | :34:17. | |
prison. Only 15% of women were sent to prison. Will she write to the | :34:18. | :34:22. | |
chairman of the Sentencing Council to instruct him to treat men and | :34:23. | :34:26. | |
women the same when they come before the courts? | :34:27. | :34:30. | |
The honourable gentleman clearly knows that the judiciary are | :34:31. | :34:36. | |
independent of government, and rightly so. There are no gender | :34:37. | :34:42. | |
preferences in sentencing guidelines. Every sentence is based | :34:43. | :34:45. | |
on the offence committed and other mitigating factors. He also knows | :34:46. | :34:50. | |
that, in the offence he identified, although women are less likely to go | :34:51. | :34:53. | |
to prison, the Saint and says they receive when they do are actually | :34:54. | :34:58. | |
longer than their male counterparts. -- the sentences. This week we have | :34:59. | :35:04. | |
learned that the pensions portfolio has been downgraded from Minister of | :35:05. | :35:09. | |
State to run on the Secretary of State. She agree with me that the | :35:10. | :35:15. | |
vast inequalities facing women and those that will face future | :35:16. | :35:20. | |
pensioners under a new state pension are suddenly shameful that the | :35:21. | :35:25. | |
Minister of State that has not been appointed to deal with these | :35:26. | :35:30. | |
inequalities and the uncertainties that retirees will face following | :35:31. | :35:34. | |
the vote to leave the EU? I thank the honourable gentleman for that | :35:35. | :35:37. | |
question. The Department for Work and Pensions takes his | :35:38. | :35:42. | |
responsibilities seriously on these issues. The department was | :35:43. | :35:45. | |
strengthened by having an additional half of Minister, and I think that | :35:46. | :35:50. | |
it is trivial to focus on the job title when in fact we get qualified, | :35:51. | :35:56. | |
competent and determined people into the right roles. Thank you, Mr | :35:57. | :36:03. | |
Speaker. I can graduate my Right Honourable Friend on her | :36:04. | :36:06. | |
appointment. One of the key decision shall have to date quickly is that | :36:07. | :36:12. | |
the two-year period of discussion on clusters termination comes to an | :36:13. | :36:15. | |
end. I've written to her already. Will she undertake to have a meeting | :36:16. | :36:20. | |
with me and a delegation from the Hindu immunity who are determined to | :36:21. | :36:25. | |
see this illogical discrimination removed from the statute book -- | :36:26. | :36:34. | |
caste the scrum and is in. I will locate his letter at the Department | :36:35. | :36:37. | |
and make sure that I read it very carefully. Urgent question, Neil | :36:38. | :36:46. | |
Carmichael. The reason I applied for an urgent question this morning... | :36:47. | :36:51. | |
We don't need to go into any of that. The right now gentleman needs | :36:52. | :36:58. | |
to ask the Secretary of State for a statement on... He will get his | :36:59. | :37:03. | |
opportunity in a minute. Can I ask about the situation with school | :37:04. | :37:06. | |
funding and whether the department can meet its timetable? Minister, | :37:07. | :37:14. | |
the Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening. Thank | :37:15. | :37:21. | |
you Mr Speaker. I'm committed to introducing fairer funding for | :37:22. | :37:24. | |
schools. This is an important reform | :37:25. | :37:25. |