Live Women and Equalities Questions House of Commons


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to the Labour Party support for them. Questions to the Minister for

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Women and Equalities. Question number one. The Secretary of State

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fully understand his obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and his

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public sector equality duty. He is aware that he must pay due regard to

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each of the statutory equality objectives. They cover all the

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protective characteristics and not just those that affect women. The

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new contract is a huge step forward to achieving fairness for all

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trainee doctors. The first time doctors will pupil paid and rewarded

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solely on the base of the own hard work and achievement whether they

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work full or part-time. Peer group pressure will be linked to the

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number of training. I have understood the minister was

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sitting to put this question was number 16? I received advice that

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was not possible. It is possible. Paul R Sheriff. I thank the Minister

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for his response, however by next year at the majority of doctors

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within our NHS will be women yet the Government has admitted in its own

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assessment of the junior doctor contract aspects of the new contract

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will disproportionately hit female doctors. How can the Department of

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women and equality is possibly condone this shocking treatment? Ice

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back the honourable lady for bringing this matter to the

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attention of the house and I know she won't want to read the full

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assessment over the weekend and find that if she does so the impact

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assessment makes clear that contract is good for woman, a fairer

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contract, and it does not directly or indirectly discriminate against

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women. That is why I am keen to see it implemented as fast as possible.

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Thank you for ruining my question in order. What estimate has been made

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in the expected drop in women doctors five years after this

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contact has been imposed on how were the skills gap be filled? Because we

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anticipate this contract is better for women in a series of different

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ways we expect women to be able to engage more easily with the

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workforce than other the previous contract and we believe it is better

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for working mothers, woman taking time out for maternity leave and for

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those reasons we hope this will reinforce the continued progression

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of women in the medical workforce. Can the Minister confirm the new

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contract will mean those who work the most insights and unsocial hours

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will be better rewarded? I can confirm that and it will also mature

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women will not be subjected to the enormously onerous hours which are

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enforced under the current contract which make the balance of work and

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family life impossible. Can my honourable friend and from under the

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existing contract to doctors doing the same job at the same level of

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responsibility and save hours can be paid differently but under the new

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contract the total number of hours that can be work will be reduced

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from 91 to 72 and this will be especially welcome by female doctors

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was like I can confirm that and it shows my honourable friend attention

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to detail for the contract. It should be made clear to the house

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the BMA agreed almost all of the contract we are now putting in

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place, including many of the aspects of the opposition are seeking to

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attack. I am surprised to hear both the minister today and the Prime

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Minister yesterday and Prime Minister 's's questions clinic this

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contact is good for a woman when the equality and fact assessment

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provided by the Minister's or officials specifically says it will

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have a disproportionate impact on woman and the Minister will not be

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surprised to hear I have read the assessment in detail. Can I ask the

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Minister how it can be right to introduce a contract and is it in

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Parliament in February and on the stake out the equality impact

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assessment six weeks later, during a recess. -- sneak out. Will he now

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get back to the negotiating table and negotiate a contract good for

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patients and all junior doctors? The honourable lady is an expert in the

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history of equality impact assessments and she understand it

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well and I must reassure the bat through the entirety of this process

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the secretary of state as being mindful of his duties under the act

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and he is very keen to make sure this conflict is good for women

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which is why at every stage, both in negotiations with the BMA as in

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several discussions, he was mindful of his duties and make sure the

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contract is an improvement on existing one. We can return to

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negotiations with a party that does not wish to talk and I would urge

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her to get her colleagues to condemn the completely unnecessary action at

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the BMA has taken, endangering patients. Web promotion I will take

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this question along with number six. -- with permission. The new state

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pension is more generous to many woman than the previous system. In

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the first ten years and 650,000 women were losing ?8 per week more

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on average due to the new state pension valuation. -- well earned

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that. -- will air an eight more a week. Is the Minister aware of the

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case of a Dutch woman who was affected with the change to her

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retirement age and it was about that woman had her human rights breached.

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Could the ministers say everything is woman in this country have had

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their human rights breach by the actions of his Government? May edit

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out the honourable lady she will be aware the Dutch authorities are

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appealing that decision. Nobody denies the state pension age needed

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transitional arrangements that the Government have have not put in

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place that has caused much consternation and I kept wondering

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that is cynical calculation has been made that these would anyone have

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reached time it is by the next general election. But the Government

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genuinely believed the transitional arrangements are fair, yes or no?

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The transitional arrangements put in place in 2011 were debated in both

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houses, the honourable gentleman will be aware that initially it was

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proposed the equalisation should be fast tracked by two years. Subject

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to various debates following intensive negotiations that was

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reduced to 18 months at a cost to the Treasury of ?1.1 billion.

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Transitional arrangements were made in 2011 and the Government has no

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plans to renew it. This is about women and equalities and we know the

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situation today is a woman born in early 1950s it will already have

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retired, a woman born in early 1954 is not gone to retire after the

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second half of 2019, two and years later. That be right. What the

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Minister not look at this again. -- that can be right. And give solace

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to the woman with the unfair amount of time to collect the pension? We

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must accept equalisation was necessarily because we were required

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to do so by European Union directive and also be part living longer,

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woman on the whole recognise we need to equalise the state pension age

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and we are actually not as fast as some other countries such as Germany

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and Denmark, who have already achieved where we are still seeking

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to go. Following the resignation of the previous Secretary of State for

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Work Pensions. The pensions minister stated he was often

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obstructed by efforts to resolve important issues, such as an woman's

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pensions. Now the main impediment to change has been removed from

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Government, when can we expect an update on the progress for these

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women have been unfairly treated for so long? I do not agree with the

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assessment of the honourable lady and an hat I have said in my

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previous answer the Government does not intend to do this because it was

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heavily debated and dealt with in 2011. Are you intending to a second

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question? She is. I thank the Minister for his response but it

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begs the question, what is the purpose of this the Bartlett and

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indeed this ministerial role if it is not addressing the inequalities

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that exist in this country? We have a 40 bits on the issue, 186,000

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people have signed a petition, we voted in this house to greet the

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policy is unfair and after all of this why is the Minister still

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prepared to defend an indefensible position? The honourable lady was

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not in the house in 2011 but this issue was heavily debated and the

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vote taken any Backbench Business Committee, she knows only too well

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the point of order was raised after that the bit and the person sitting

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in the chair at the time happen to be discussed and former chairman of

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the Backbench Business Committee and she made it clear votes taken after

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votes tabled by the Backbench Business Committee are not binding

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by the Government. With permission I would like to group this question

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with the question ten. The 20 16th budget to help 790,000 women and

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540,000 men by cutting their contacts to zero. It helped 7.4

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million women and 5.6 million men with an increase in the state

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pension thanks to travel a lot, millions of men and women by

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freezing fuel duty and the national living wage gave an immediate pay

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rise to 900,000 women and I men this month. -- 500,000 men. The Labour

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Party has commissioned research showing since 2010 86% of the total

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amount of cash saved from benefit changes are comparable woman,

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disproportionately. That has now increased by 5%. How much more do

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women have to take the brunt of this Government before action is taken?

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Are we completely do not accept this analysis which, by the way, has not

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been published and appears to take into account the fact that the child

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benefit of higher rate women like myself has been removed. Busy making

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the case that higher rates child benefit should be returned to higher

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rates the taxpayers. -- is he making the case? It has not even been

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published and similar analysis assumes extra Government borrowing

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can make everybody better off. That does sound like the Labour Party.

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The Government's own figures show since 2010 women have, there has

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been a big drop in women taking cases to the tribunal, more than

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10,000. In that same period there has been at increase in men taking

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cases to the tribunal. Can the minister explain these figures? I

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would of thought she would welcome the fact that the gender pay gap is

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narrowing so much and the steps we have taken any 20 16th budget would

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increase the pay of 900,000 women mean that gender pay gap at the

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lowest paid well have been eliminated by 2020. Does the

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Minister agree the Chancellor's measures on small business rates

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will be massively beneficial to businesses around the country? I

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agree with the honourable gentleman and would also point out that we are

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also making substantial progress in terms of the number of women owns

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and women managed businesses in this country, something I believe will

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also lead to greater gender equality. On the set of the house we

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welcome the budget announcement about the removal of VAT on tampons,

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a campaign led by my honourable friend. However given that the

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Chancellor previously reassured me that ?15 million raised from this

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tax would be providing funds to domestic violence charities and

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woman's refuges, canny minister clarify at the budget included a ?15

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million cut the woman was like charities. -- can the Minister

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confirm. And where is the Government's plan for long-term

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woman was like safety? I can confirm the ?15 million in budget 2016 will

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be allocated to the charities he announced and we have also announced

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a further ?80 million and Serbs of support for these kinds of

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initiatives to tackle violence against women. Number five, Mr

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Speaker. I want to start by thanking the equality and human rights

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commission for their research and the report. The Government had

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accepted the majority of the recommendations and will work with

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them and employers to put up discrimination against pregnant

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women in the workplace. I welcome the Minister's answer. I am aware of

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a number of cases of new mothers in my constituency who have lost their

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job after giving birth or experience other form of discrimination at

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work. Well he set out a timescale for the implementation of the

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recommendations from the equalities and human rights work and will be

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set up an opportunity, create an opportunity for a debate on that

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work and those recommendations in the house? I am very happy to take

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up what the mood of the house the possibility of such a debate because

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I would welcome it and I think this report made for some depressing

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reading in some respects. While it was welcomed at 84% of employers

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think it is important to support pregnant woman and new mothers, it

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was depressing that three in four mothers interviewed said they had a

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negative or possibly discover that only experienced during pregnancy.

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We must achieve is a wholesale change in culture and that is why I

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would resist putting a time frame on the implementation of the changing

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culture because governments on their own can change that culture but I

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think a debate on how we can all work together to do so would be very

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welcome. Many women still face difficult decisions when it comes to

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having a child and in places like London warehouse prices are very

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high working part-time is not an option. What is Government doing to

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encourage businesses to approach a moderate report and balance work and

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family life with flexible hours were possible?

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That I know he will welcome the introduction of the right to request

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flexible working and also the Government interventions to provide

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further childcare support for working women of all ages and of all

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income levels and I do believe that will help women who want to be able

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to balance indentured in the workplace with bringing up young

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children. I will answer this question would

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question eight. We want every young person regardless of their sexual

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orientation to reach their full potential. That is why in March I

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announced a further million pound front to address homophobic, trans

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phobic bullying in addition to what I announced in 2014. Research

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showing that 35% of young LGBT children experiencing bullying, what

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else will they be doing to ensure those issues are covered in the

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curriculum as well? He is right to say about the 55% figure. That is a

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drop from 65% in 2007 but we cannot be complacent. 96% of LGB pupils

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reported hearing homophobic language in school in 2012. Some excellent

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new guidance has been produced on diversity and relationships in their

:17:33.:17:36.

programme of study. As well that the support for helping teachers to

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tackle issues around bullying, it is targeted at LGBT pupils and

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all of their colleagues and it is very important. The Albert Kennedy

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trust, the research has identified that 24% of the homeless youth

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population are LGBT. That is a very disturbing figure but the Government

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is planning to cut housing benefit for people under the age of 21. Does

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the Secretary of State think that the situation is going to get worse

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or better for those young people? As he says we have given 48,000 pounds

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to the Albert Kennedy trust in 2014-15 to develop a national online

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mentoring service. We have also predicted Thomas responding,

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provincial funding for local authorities totalling ?313 million

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by the end of this Parliament. Transit young people experience on

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-- trans. Unacceptable does commission in our country. Three

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months ago the women and equality his search Committee published a

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ground breaking report outlining more than 30 recommendations to

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improve the lives of trans people. When can we expect a response from

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the Government? Can I thank my Right Honourable friend very much indeed?

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I had the pleasure last week of visiting the young transgender

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centre of excellence that has just been opened by the LGBT centre in

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Leicester funded by the BBC children in need. She is right to mention the

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ground-breaking report that hurt Committee published. She mentioned

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the 30 recommendations we are through. I'm sure she like me was to

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make sure that when we respond we do so in a full and open way. The

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report is going to very significant changes to the law, context changes

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to the NHS and changes to policy practices for more than a dozen

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public bodies and want to make sure we get the response rate. This

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government and the Prime Minister in particular have done great things

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for equality for LGBT people particularly with regard to gay

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marriage but there is still one area of terrible inequality. The area is

:19:49.:19:56.

that you can have a promiscuous straight man having sex with

:19:57.:20:01.

different women every night yet they can give blood. You can have a gay

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guy in a monogamous relationship and yet he is completely forbidden to

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donate blood unless he is prepared to certify that he has been celibate

:20:14.:20:19.

for 12 months. This is medical and scientific nonsense. It is also

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unfair. When will this change? Can I thank him very much indeed? We have

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discussed this before and I have disgusted cerebral times now with

:20:31.:20:34.

the Minister for health and I know -- discussed it several times. We

:20:35.:20:41.

have looked at the lifetime ban on blood donation. As he will note the

:20:42.:20:49.

setting of guidelines is reviewing the evidence and policy and we will

:20:50.:20:52.

expect to hear sooner rather than later. Earlier this year LGBT mental

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health charity pace was forced to close citing cuts to the local

:21:02.:21:08.

authority budget as a major factor. Given it had previously identified

:21:09.:21:11.

that more than a third of LGBT young people had made at least one suicide

:21:12.:21:15.

attempt to their own life, does the Minister share my concerns about the

:21:16.:21:21.

level of mental health support currently available to LGBT people?

:21:22.:21:28.

Can I thank her for her question? I think members across the House will

:21:29.:21:32.

know of my long-standing interest in mental health issues to all young

:21:33.:21:35.

people and the priority we give that in the Department for Education and

:21:36.:21:39.

also into the Government equalities office. In the current financial

:21:40.:21:46.

year we provided a 4.9 million pounds to 17 voluntary civil society

:21:47.:21:52.

projects, for children with mental health issues including almost a

:21:53.:21:56.

quarter million pounds to the Metrocentre to establish services

:21:57.:21:58.

and those people working across London and Kent. We are looking at

:21:59.:22:01.

what we can do in this financial year to make sure that services will

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continue to be funded and I will work with my colleagues in the

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dependent -- in the Department of Health to make sure that all ages

:22:08.:22:19.

get the support they need. Caught by surprise, thank you. Last July...

:22:20.:22:34.

Just to say, question 11. Build-up. We are absolutely committed to

:22:35.:22:39.

emulating the gender came back with the new generation with where we

:22:40.:22:42.

require larger employers to publish the gender pay and bonus caps as

:22:43.:22:46.

well. We will support all businesses to do this regardless of their size

:22:47.:22:51.

with a happy million pounds package including UK wide conference events,

:22:52.:22:54.

online software and of course targeted support to some of the male

:22:55.:22:57.

dominated sectors. We also have the think act report initiative which is

:22:58.:23:06.

available to businesses of any size. Last July the Prime Minister

:23:07.:23:10.

promised that companies with more than 250 employees would have to

:23:11.:23:13.

disclose their gender pay gap. This has already been pushed back by two

:23:14.:23:17.

month and is a rip the chartered Institute of personnel and

:23:18.:23:19.

development found that only one in four firms has done any analysis on

:23:20.:23:23.

this at all. Does the Minister think progress on this is good enough and

:23:24.:23:29.

what is going to be done about it? Of course this is more progress than

:23:30.:23:33.

we have had in any previous government but the Government is not

:23:34.:23:37.

complacent about this. The gender pay gap is at the lowest on record

:23:38.:23:41.

and virtually eliminated by women working full-time under the age of

:23:42.:23:45.

40 but this is why we have brought forward this quite demanding

:23:46.:23:49.

regulation, larger employers will have to publish both their gender

:23:50.:23:52.

pay gap and their bonus pay gap and why we have released a big package

:23:53.:23:56.

of support to enable us to support them through this progress. Since

:23:57.:24:01.

the Government introduced tribunal fee is the number of equal pay

:24:02.:24:05.

claims has fallen dramatically. The Government talks the talk on equal

:24:06.:24:09.

pay but why are they making it more difficult for women to challenge

:24:10.:24:17.

unfair pay claims? First of all we are reviewing this at the moment.

:24:18.:24:20.

But the honourable gentleman must be aware that actually many more cases

:24:21.:24:26.

are going through ACAS, over 80,000 cases last year and surely he would

:24:27.:24:29.

agree that actually it is much better sorting something out in a

:24:30.:24:37.

mediation, in a friendly and consolidate three way so that people

:24:38.:24:40.

are able to go back into their workplace without the stigma or any

:24:41.:24:51.

form of hostility. The Government set out its assessment of the impact

:24:52.:24:56.

on the welfare policies in the welfare reform and work act on the

:24:57.:24:59.

20th of July last year. Spending in real terms on disabled people will

:25:00.:25:04.

be higher in every year to the 20 dan 2010. The Select Committee 's

:25:05.:25:12.

report published last month that the Government through inaction on the

:25:13.:25:17.

equality through spending cuts, cuts to legal aid and its red cape

:25:18.:25:23.

challenge removing protections is disproportionately hurting disabled

:25:24.:25:25.

people. Will this government apologise by the lack of respect and

:25:26.:25:31.

complete content to disabled people? -- contempt. This government is

:25:32.:25:38.

spending ?50 billion every year on benefits along to support people

:25:39.:25:41.

with disabilities or health condition. That is over 6% of

:25:42.:25:45.

government spending. I think that answers the question very clearly.

:25:46.:25:54.

Research by Unison indicates that no group will be more adversely

:25:55.:25:59.

affected by welfare reform than people with disabilities. We are at

:26:00.:26:04.

risk of progressing on issues of equality. When will the Government

:26:05.:26:08.

actively keyed the voice of people with disabilities and reverse these

:26:09.:26:15.

damaging policies? May just remind the honourable lady that this

:26:16.:26:18.

government has done more for disabled people than any government

:26:19.:26:25.

before? I have just stated the amount of money for stop I just

:26:26.:26:29.

stated the amount of money that this government is spending and may I

:26:30.:26:34.

just say that under this government there are now over a 3.2 million

:26:35.:26:39.

disabled people in employment. Employment is something that helps

:26:40.:26:42.

people have more fulfilled lives. We didn't give up on people, we don't

:26:43.:26:45.

give up on people like the parties opposite.

:26:46.:26:58.

The honourable gentleman will be aware that there is a

:26:59.:27:03.

post-implantation review of the introduction of fees in the

:27:04.:27:05.

employment tribunal 's. This will consider so far as possible the

:27:06.:27:09.

impact the fees have had on those with the characteristics who use the

:27:10.:27:12.

Roman tribune yours and it heads of case they bring. The review has

:27:13.:27:19.

apparently be on the Minister desk since every so I hope we hear the

:27:20.:27:23.

outcome soon. According to the equality and Human Rights Commission

:27:24.:27:27.

less than 1% of the charity disco commission clears proceed to an

:27:28.:27:32.

employment tribunal. 99 of every 100 and who are discriminated against

:27:33.:27:35.

because of the busy having no legal redress. If the measure proud of

:27:36.:27:41.

that or is it? May I say to him that pregnancy and maternity

:27:42.:27:43.

discrimination is unlawful and totally unacceptable. That is why

:27:44.:27:49.

this government and the equality and humanise commission jointly funded

:27:50.:27:51.

independent research into the matter. I can assure the honourable

:27:52.:27:56.

gentleman but the review taking place at the moment will take into

:27:57.:27:59.

account some of the findings of that research. Increasing diversity is

:28:00.:28:10.

essential for appointing the best public people to our boards. We are

:28:11.:28:13.

making real progress in increasing the number of women appointed with

:28:14.:28:18.

44% of new appointments in 2014-15 made to women, up from 39% in

:28:19.:28:26.

2013-14. The steps we have taken to increase diversity include

:28:27.:28:29.

streamlining the application process, increasing awareness of

:28:30.:28:33.

opportunities to outreach and other events, a central website and use of

:28:34.:28:39.

social media. We have introduced unconscious bias training for senior

:28:40.:28:42.

personnel in the Cabinet office including permanent secretaries and

:28:43.:28:49.

senior ministers. I thank him for that confluence of reply which was

:28:50.:28:54.

preceded by supplementary, but I would like to mention that I wonder

:28:55.:28:57.

whether it is a lack of confidence in some cases that inhibits women

:28:58.:29:02.

from making an application for public appointment and whether

:29:03.:29:04.

perhaps more can be done to communicate the woman that their

:29:05.:29:08.

applications are indeed encouraged and will be successful? It is

:29:09.:29:14.

important that we get the best people into or public appointments

:29:15.:29:20.

and women play an absolutely crucial role in doing that. What we have

:29:21.:29:23.

done is we have received recently a report from Sir Jerry Brimstone and

:29:24.:29:28.

that was designed to make appointment process is much more

:29:29.:29:31.

efficient, much more effective and streamlined. I can tell my

:29:32.:29:37.

honourable friend that we have now hit the highest figures ever

:29:38.:29:41.

recorded for women in public appointments but we haven't done

:29:42.:29:44.

enough. We still want to go much further and we want to hit that

:29:45.:29:56.

target of 50% we have set ourselves. Closing the gender pay gap is of

:29:57.:29:59.

course good for women but also employers and our economy which is

:30:00.:30:04.

why we require large employers to publish their pay gap data.

:30:05.:30:07.

Occupational segregation is one of the main causes of that pay gap and

:30:08.:30:11.

that is why we have announced an ambition to see a 20% increase in

:30:12.:30:14.

girls taking A-level maths and science by 2020. A continuing cause

:30:15.:30:24.

of the pay gap is the lower incidence of woman studying science

:30:25.:30:28.

and engineering at University banned men. To close that it gap is a

:30:29.:30:34.

pre-requisite to closing the pay gap, which she agree? He is

:30:35.:30:41.

absolutely right that jobs in stem gather a significant wage premium

:30:42.:30:45.

and while women make up 50% of stem undergraduates that doesn't

:30:46.:30:48.

translate into the workplace, which is why we have set up a new career

:30:49.:30:52.

as an enterprise company bringing schools and businesses together to

:30:53.:30:54.

inspire and inform young people but also published guidance called your

:30:55.:30:59.

daughter's future to help parents guide their daughters in subject and

:31:00.:31:00.

career choices. Thank you, Mr Speaker. The committee

:31:01.:31:09.

reimportant on the gender pay gap showed strong and compelling

:31:10.:31:13.

evidence that increasing the availability of well paid flexible

:31:14.:31:17.

work would make a significant difference to reducing the gender

:31:18.:31:20.

pay gap. What is the Government going to be doing to make flexible

:31:21.:31:26.

work easy and to encourage employers to offer it from the date of

:31:27.:31:29.

appointment rather than having to wait six months? Well, the

:31:30.:31:35.

honourable lady is right, which is why this Government has done more

:31:36.:31:38.

than any before to extend the right to flexible working to all

:31:39.:31:43.

employees. We will continue to work with businesses to encourage them to

:31:44.:31:46.

get the very best out of every single one of their staff. Mr

:31:47.:31:53.

Speaker, the private sector has made progress in gender equality in

:31:54.:31:56.

recent years. There is a big problem. Research has proven there

:31:57.:32:02.

are more man called Andrew, David and John in senior positions in the

:32:03.:32:06.

FTSE-100 than there are women. What more can the Government to do to

:32:07.:32:12.

insenz tiez good practise and better gender equality in the FTSE-100?

:32:13.:32:16.

Yes, Mr Speaker, the answer is not to change the name of the men as

:32:17.:32:23.

somebody has suggested! More Carolines!

:32:24.:32:27.

The honourable gentleman is right, which is why this Government has

:32:28.:32:31.

done more than ever before tone courage the FTSE-100 to address that

:32:32.:32:38.

issue. We now have no all-male boards in the FTSE-100. The next

:32:39.:32:43.

stage is to look at this pipeline and make sure we are encouraging

:32:44.:32:47.

women every step to make sure we have more women on board than ever

:32:48.:32:51.

before. THE SPEAKER: The shadow leader of

:32:52.:32:57.

the House. Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming

:32:58.:33:01.

business, please? Mr Speaker if you allow me to say that I think the

:33:02.:33:06.

shadow leader, myself and the SNP spokesman all have something in

:33:07.:33:10.

common this morning. We should feel anxious after the march of the

:33:11.:33:13.

deputies before the recess. I would like to congratulate all three for

:33:14.:33:18.

doing a star turn in that last session before recess. There will be

:33:19.:33:25.

another opportunity as well. Monday 18th April there'll be a debate on

:33:26.:33:28.

the introduction of the national living wage and related changes to

:33:29.:33:31.

employee

:33:32.:33:32.

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