Live Women and Equalities Questions House of Commons

the last year leaving the customs

union provides an opportunity to

enhance this growth, particularly as

manufacturing exports outside of the

EU are growing so fast.

Questions to

the Minister for Women and

Equalities.

One, Mr Speaker.

Thank

you, Mr Speaker. With your

permission, I would like to take

questions one and two together. The

centenary fund has paid out £2.5

million so far, £1.2 million was

given to Bolton, Bristol, Leeds,

Leicester, London, Nottingham. We

are also funding the first-ever

statue of a woman in Parliament

Square, Millicent Fawcett.

I thank

the Minister for her answer, she

will know, I am sure, that the

Sheffield female political

Association founded in 1851 was the

first woman's suffrage organisation

in the UK. Will she therefore join

me in supporting the bid prepared by

women across the voluntary arts and

education sectors to the fund and

will she wish them well in their

ambition to use the centenary to

encourage opportunities for women

who feel disengaged and

disempowered?

I thank him for his

question. I am delighted to

congratulate him and to welcome the

women of Sheffield in their bid to

the centenary fund, I hope it will

do exactly as he says, encourage

more women to engage in political

life in general.

Will the Minister

confirm what level of support the

Government or contracted company is

providing smaller women's groups to

encourage them?

Yes, I am happy to

tell him that we have a website that

will set it out. It is women's

centenary fund, whether bidding

process is set out, two types of

grants available, larger ones up to

£125,000, and smaller ones start at

£2000, that will give him and his

constituents the information they

need to apply for the grants.

Are we

in danger of missing the point? The

best way to celebrate the centenary

of women's Suffrage is to get more

women to register and vote when

elections turn up?

My honourable

friend is right, it is absolutely

imperative more women participate in

political life, both in terms of

voting and participate in this place

here. But we can do both things,

celebrate the centenary and in our

celebrations, make that point

repeatedly so we get more women

involved.

A recent study

published... Apologies. Question

number three. My apologies.

Thank

you. The UK Government's record on

the qualities as one of the best in

the world and leaving the EU will

not change that. The Equality Acts

and equivalent legislation in

Northern Ireland provide a

cornerstone and in some places go

much further than EU requirements,

for example, world leading approach

to gender pay gap reporting. We do

not need to be part of the EU to

sustain our record in this area.

A

recent study has found the UK's

voting record has historically

placed business interests over

women's rights. Post Brexit Britain,

what steps is the Government taking

to ensure that this business

interests will not be placed above

equality?

The Government has a proud

record of protecting and enhancing

women's rights, predating the

membership of the EU, for example,

the Equal Pay Act of 1970. The index

in the EU placing us six out of 28

and the gender pay clap were -- the

gender pay gap reporting policies go

beyond the EU in many ways.

Rather

like an employment rights, the UK

has been right at the forefront of

advancing the quality across the

world, will she confirm that simply

is not going to change?

Yes. We have

a proud record, a proud history,

proud tradition in the UK supporting

workers, protect civil liberties and

champions human rights, leaving the

EU will in no way affect that

historic tradition of which we can

all be proud.

Number four, Mr

Speaker.

The Equality Act 2010

provides protection from harassment

for employees. The coalition

government repealed the third-party

harassment provisions in section 40

of the act because they were

unnecessary and overcomplicated.

Employers have a legal obligation to

protect workers and they may be

liable if they fail to take

reasonable steps to prevent

harassment of workers by third

parties.

I referred to my members

interest, I am not on the menu in

the hospitality sector, research

with cabin crew is showing the

majority experience sexual

harassment, demonstrating why

section 40 of the qualities that

2010 is vital. Will the Minister

commit to end implement this and

focus on a zero tolerance approach

to any sexual harassment in the

first place?

I am most concerned and

she should be reassured they are

covered already by the Equality Act.

The reason those provisions were

repealed in section 40 was because

they required not one but three

occasions of harassment and we know

that in the three years that the

provisions were in place, they were

used only once, so we having -- we

have tried to improve the euro.

It

is encouraging to hear my honourable

friend's response. -- tried to

improve the law. We have to be

encouraging, and am I reporting,

with the workplace, and also make

sure the unethical use of

nondisclosure agreements are not all

working to stop people bringing

forward these claims of sexual

harassment -- and on the most

reporting.

I thank her for her

question and with her expertise, she

knows too well the challenge we have

in advertising the rights people

have in the workplace and I am

particularly concerned with

nondisclosure agreements. We know

they can be used for lawful reasons,

to protect client confidentiality,

but they cannot be used to shield

employees from claims of harassment

or discrimination and any work her

committee can do to help the

Government in advertising that, I

would very much welcome.

I know from

my many battles in the coalition

government, some successful, some

not, that the Conservatives of

session with deregulation often gets

in the way of protecting vulnerable

workers and teachers that obsession

that is the real reason those

provisions in the Equality Act were

repealed, I was in the discussions

at the time -- the Conservatives'

obsession with deregulation. It is

time to look again at the issue and

by all means, improve on the

provisions there originally, as

suggested.

I very much paid tribute

to the honourable lady for the work

she has done as a minister and that

she continues to do in the House. We

will keep this under review of

course. The point I made about the

section 40 amendments was because

the general protection exists under

the act but we will continue to look

at the evidence and we are very

clear, discrimination in the

workplace, harassment, it is simply

not on and it is against the law.

We

have to be very clear about this

because the Government repealed

section 40 of the Equality Act 2010,

there is no statutory protection of

the third-party harassment, so if

the Government is committed to

protecting women and girls, will

they show this by either reinstating

section 40 or at the very least

introducing stronger legislation to

ensure protection against

third-party harassment?

I hesitate

to correct the honourable lady, but

it is simply not true, there is a

general protection against

harassment in the workplace, it is

in the statute, the 2010 statute,

general protection. If there are any

instances members across the House

have of particular types of

harassment or discrimination, I and

the Home Secretary will be always

willing to listen, but the Equality

Act protection workers, and it does

not require three occasions of

harassment, it requires just one.

Number five, please, Mr Speaker.

Thank you. No girl or woman should

be held back because of her gender

or background. This is why the

department forger Digital Culture,

Media and Sport has identified

period poverty as a priority for the

tampon tax fund which in 2018 and

2019 totals £15 million and we have

encouraged its to address this

issue.

In Stockton South and across

Teesside, residents led the free

period campaign and persuaded local

authorities to provide free sanitary

protection for women and girls

living in poverty. Which you meet

with me to work out how it would be

replicated in other parts of the

country?

I am delighted to hear the

council have started this innovative

project and in fairness to the

Scottish colleagues, the same is

happening in Aberdeen as well. I

look forward very much to hearing

the results of this pilot and I

would be happy to meet the

honourable gentleman to discuss it.

I was pleased to hear the student

union in Lincoln sales sanitary

products at Costa before VAT, will

the Minister acknowledge this is a

necessity and will she accelerate

the timetable for removing the

tampon tax? Yes or no?

I'm very glad

our current university is leading

the way on this but she knows we are

constrained by our membership of the

European Union, she shakes her head

but I'm afraid that's the law. What

we have done is lowered the race to

the lowest possible level, 5% and

what is more, we are using that

money specifically for women and

girls, funds to help them and the

moment we leave the European Union,

I know my Treasury colleagues are

looking exactly at the issue.

Mr

Speaker, it's a stain on our society

young girls and women are

experiencing period poverty and its

tragic are government appear to have

an ambivalence to it, although I

welcome the latest announcement.

Will the Minister agree to work with

me in an innovative scheme I am

running with a local supermarket

currently in its infancy to see how

we can work towards the elimination

of period poverty?

I'd be delighted

to meet a tizzy discussed it,

because it is portents -- meet her

to discuss it. We are trying to

gather the evidence on it,

particularly with schools. On the

issue of the VAT charged on tampons

and other sanitary products, it is

something we want to address and the

moment we leave the EU, we can do

so. In the meantime, we are using

the money raised by the lower VAT

rates to help women and girls,

particularly firms dealing with the

violence against women and girls. We

have a general programme, 12 sub

themes including period poverty and

I hope the money will be of good

use.

Last week, the Minister asked

us to remember the suffragettes

change to the grills. I ask the

Minister today to remember the women

change to the House because of

period poverty or those changed to

poor housing because of universal

credits or to a abusive partner

because of the closure of refugees,

will she help tackle those issues?

This government, led I'm I say --

led by a female Prime Minister,

something the opposition have never

entrusted their leadership to, this

government is proud of helping women

and precisely why we are bringing a

ground-breaking use of legislation

forward this year to tackle domestic

abuse and help their victims and the

children of those victims. It is one

of a long programmer to try to help

women who are not just victims of

crime but also in the economy, more

women in the workplace than ever

before and we all know financial

independence is a key indicator when

it comes to ensuring women are not

stuck in the terrible relationships

she has described.

Question number

six, Mr Speaker.

I do like to groove

this question with question seven,

eights, 13 and 15. More than 7500

employees have registered their

intention to report and more than

1000 have published their data, the

most recent data publicly available

on the government website. There is

still over a month until the public

and private sector deadlines and we

expect reporting to increase it

never can sleep.

One challenge that

we face is employed as sometimes

deliberately conflate their pay with

equal pay to avoid scrutiny of their

conduct -- fair play. A prime

offender is the BBC, 70 MPs wrote to

the Secretary of State for culture

to use their power for men and women

to be heard on this subject. Will

she exercise her freedom of speech

and have a word?

I thank the Lady

for raising this matter and it has

been instructive to see how the BBC

has responded to this. I'm happy to

confirm I will take forward her and

advice and have a word.

Will the

Minister confirm what sanctions will

be put in place for those companies

who do not meet their obligations to

publish the gender pay data by the

deadline?

An important question from

him, we've put the legislation in

place, its ground-breaking, to

ensure we close the gender pay gap.

See HRC will be overseeing any sort

of sanctions that are necessary. I

hope it will be intention to use

persuasion and demonstration of the

law to get participation but they

can use the full force if they find

it's not being complied with.

What

measures are government undertaking

to work with private sector

business, civil society and others

to close the gender pay gap?

Incredibly important we address

closing it and I think the

transparency is one of the key ways

we achieve that. Having this

compulsion on reporting on the

gender pay is an important first

step but we will take it further,

engaging with businesses to see what

measures they will put in place to

address the gender pay gap. When I

talk to businesses about this, when

they realise they have such a pay

gap, to some is a revelation, they

are moving to put in training and

other measures to address it.

Only

three universities have so far

reported on this and on a day when

academics are bravely standing up to

defend their pensions, Canada

Minister tell us when she expects

the pay gap will be eliminated in

our universities? -- can our

Minister.

I urge them to address

reporting the pay gap, it is the

law. A word on another matter, it is

important this dispute between

students are effectively, the

universities and their staff is

resolved because people need to get

their degrees and I would urge them

to get back to work.

Only 1000 out

of 9000 companies obliged to publish

data about the pay gap so far have

done so, what will the Minister do

to ensure they meet their

obligations so we get the full

picture?

It's a vital data and we

are proud of it because it has been

introduced by a conservative

government. We will contact private

and public sector companies to make

sure they report but it's an

important first step, only 1000 so

far, I would urge the Gentleman not

to make perfect the enemy of the

good.

When the Minister has a word

with the BBC, will it be her

contention that it's the men that

are overpaid or at the women that

are underpaid?

That is almost a

philosophical question from the

Right Honourable Gentleman. My

priority is equality, the point I

will be making.

I've always thought

of the member for Shipley as a

philosopher. Of some distinction!

Alan Mak.

Question number nine.

I am

proud to be part of the most diverse

Parliament in history and my

honourable friend who asks this

question is making his own

contribution by being the first

British Chinese member of

Parliament, for which I welcome him.

We are commissioning evidence to

identify strategies to overcome

barriers to participation and for

our centenary fund, we support

projects to get all women involved

in all levels of government and

ultimately stand for elected office.

I thank her for her answer and kind

words, 12 women Conservative

councillors currently serve on my

council giving over 100 years of

collective service. Will she

continue to support women elected

into office at local government

level and congratulate my friends

locally for their service?

Such a

good question, it is important we

also encourage women to participate

more in local councils. Only 32% of

local councillors are women, I'd

like to see the numbers arise. I

would like to share thanks and paid

tribute to councillor Gwen Blackett,

soon to retire from haven't council

following 45 years of service and I

would like to congratulate her and

other who has served as well.

The

first woman to be elected to this

Parliament was of course counters

Markowitz, an Irish nationalists. Is

the Home Secretary looking forward

to a presentation of the portrait of

the Countess next week by the Irish

Speaker to this Parliament?

Well,

yes, I am looking forward to that

event and make sure it's in my diary

so I can join the Lady for the

event.

Splendid! Order, topical

questions, I look forward to the

presence of the Minister for Women

and Equalities, that will confer

some additional glitter on our

proceedings. Anna McMorrin.

Question

number one.

I'd like to update the

House on the work we're doing to

support people back into paid work

after time spent with carers. Of

which are 90% of course are women.

We know too often people with skills

and experience struggled to get back

into jobs after taking time out of

the labour market to care for

children and family members which is

a huge loss for the economy. Which

is why we've committed £5 million to

support people back into work in

last year 's spring Budget. We

announced a new measures for

returners and I'm pleased to inform

the House programmes for people

wanting to return to jobs in social

work and health professions and a

programme for those wanting to join

the civil service after the break up

and running. Next month, we will

launch practical guidance to help

private sector employees to get back

to the right skill level. I will

continue to expand opportunities for

those who want to return to

employment and will continue to give

updates.

Tomorrow in my constituency

of Cardiff North, I am hosting a

pensions inequalities meeting for

those born in the 1950s. When will

the government support these women

all over the country shamelessly

exploited and robbed of their

pensions?

This was legislation

passed in 1995 to create an equality

between men and women. Those who

seek to change the legislation would

be effectively creating an

inequality between men and women on

an ongoing basis that has a dubious

nature in law and an inequality

between 1950s born women and 1960s

born women.

In this important

centenary year, what steps is the

government is taking to tackle the

online abuse of women in public

life?

Well, I thank her for that

question. It is so important to

protect women particularly who get

the largest share of abuse from

other type of attacks that can put

them off participating in public

life. That's why the Prime Minister

announced a review that the Law

Commission will be doing to ensure

what we say, that what is illegal

off-line is illegal off-line, is

actually the case and the law is

following that guidance.

Mr Speaker,

I welcome the draft domestic

violence and abuse Bill and are

looking at new initiatives, I hope

it considers the impact of

government policy domestic violence.

Therefore I ask Will the Secretary

of State that the commitment will

include the abolition of the 4% tax

on survivors of domestic violence

and ensure it's included in this

draft a Bill.

I'm grateful for her

question, I will refer to colleagues

who are doing the specific matters

in relation to child maintenance and

make sure we write to her with the

specific response on that point

within a week.

89% of those who take

time out of work to fulfil caring

responsibilities are women and

employers have a huge role to play

in helping women to return to work

when they wish to. And she set out

plans to publish guidance for

private sector employers?

I agree

this is a priority, for individuals

and employers, families and the

economy, which is why we have

allocated £5 million in the last

spring Budget to make sure we set up

programmes for training, guidance

and supporting businesses and

employers and achieving exactly

that. I will have further

announcements on this.

The

Department for Education are

currently reviewing relationship and

excellent education. I wonder, has

the Minister taken an opportunity to

discuss with education colleagues,

to emphasise how important it is to

identify FGM and child early forced

marriage as I priority area in the

curriculum going forward.

I'm

incredibly proud of this government

has made that commitment and we are

going to be consulting on its to

ensure we get it right. It's

important to distinguish between

relationship education which will be

compulsory in primary schools and

sex education in secondary schools,

but the early as the Lady highlights

of course will be considered as part

of it. But this government has done

a lot to address the scourge and

unpleasantness and horror of forced

marriage and FGM.

Could administer update the House on

for the government is doing to

improve female eligibility for auto

enrolment?

In 2012, overall

participation of female employees in

workplace pension was 58%, but this

has now increased to 80%, above men.

In her constituency, there are 1020

employers who have enrolled 6000

employees into an auto enrolled

pension, including a large

proportion of women. I will update

the House regarding all

constituencies shortly.

What steps

of the government taking to ensure

that in job interviews women are not

asked about their family plans or

their childcare arrangements?

I

think I can honestly say that I was

as shocked as she not out was to see

about that and I will be discussing

it with the HRC and finding out what

further communication is needed to

employers to ensure that doesn't

take place, because it is clearly

not allowed.

Businesses have got

just two weeks to file their gender

pay gap reports. It's clear

some excellent investigative

journalism from the Financial Times

that some businesses have filed

incorrect data. Is done

deliberately, what will my right

honourable friend do?

I thank my

honourable friend for raising the

issue. It is important to get right

the gender pay gap reporting. It is

a vital tool for ensuring we close

the gap. I will be turning to the

appropriate group to ensure this is

properly handled.

With reference to

the BBC and the gender pay gap, I

have also been looking at the

diversity of background of the

senior management of the

organisation, but unfortunately they

are not playing ball.

With the

Secretary of State have a word with

them? Looks like I'm going to have a

few things to take forward with them

and I look forward to coming back

and setting out what those

conversations have revealed.

Following the consultation that

ended last September, when will my

honourable friend bring forward

proposals to remove costs as a

protected characteristic from the

equality act 2010?

I thank him for

his question. He has done so much

work on this issue. We are clear

that discrimination on the basis of

caste is not acceptable. We are

considering the results of a

consultation from last year as we

speak. The government will be

responding shortly.

Can I ask what

discussions the government has had

with minority women's groups?

I have

had a number of conversations with

minority women's groups. When I go

out to discuss issues to do with

integration, I always make a special

point of engaging with women's

groups and finding out what we can

do to help them. Often there are

concerns at the sort of concerns he

and I might have about our own

families, access to jobs, access to

language courses, access to general

public services. The Communities

Secretary will shortly bring forward

an immigration strategy which I

think will address some of those

concerns.

Regarding social media

companies, can I urge her to don her

ministerial hat and look at what

companies can do proactively to

ensure women are not put off going

into public life?

He is right. The

issue of abuse of women online puts

people off. I recently visited the

West Coast to discuss high levels of

crime online with internet companies

and that was productive. We've got

them to agree to a number of

additional measures.

Will the

Minister consider criminalising

upskirting, to end this degrading

and humiliating premise?

Upskirting

is a modern phenomenon which the law

has not quite kept up with modern

habits. It is an issue of which I'm

much aware. My Police and Crime

Commissioner campaigns on this

thoroughly. The government is

considering this. Perhaps I could

meet with the honourable lady to

discuss this with her?

What ongoing

work is the government doing to

tackle domestic violence?

At I can

reassure my honourable friend that

we take domestic violence very

seriously and we will shortly bring

forward a consultation ahead of a

new domestic violence Bill, which we

will bring forward, which will

address this heinous crime and I

believe start to reduce the amount

of domestic violence we are seeing

in this country.

There is strong

anecdotal evidence to suggest that

women are missing days at school due

to period poverty. May I ask what

has been, Saint, what research are

you looking at and when will it be

published to the House?

Last summer,

we asked for help from the

Association of School and College

leaders Forum and the received a

limited response. We're trying to

produce an analysis of our absence

data, to look for evidence of period

poverty and we will publish the

findings of that due course.

Further

to the Minister's earlier answer, if

the state pension ages of men and

women were to be different, with

that infringe equality legislation?

Potentially yes.

Will the Minister

explained what plans the government

will put in place to protect the 200

women and children who are turned

away from refugees every single day?

-- refuges.

We take very seriously

the issue of refuge. Sometimes what

happens is when a woman applies for

one refuge, doesn't get accepted at

that one, she goes on to the second

or third and that counts as one

being turned away. Are they share

his