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837340

registered interest
date	05/02/2018
answering body	Women and Equalities
answering dept id	31
answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
hansard heading	Pregnancy: Discrimination
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she has taken in response to recommendations by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on women taking pregnancy and maternity discrimination cases against their employers to a tribunal.
tabling member constituency	Hampstead and Kilburn
tabling member printed	Tulip Siddiq
uin	126459
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2018 answer text <p>Anyone who believes that they have faced discrimination in employment because of pregnancy and maternity is entitled to bring a claim for discrimination in an Employment Tribunal. The report of research undertaken by the then Department for Business Innovation and Skills and the EHRC into pregnancy and maternity related discrimination and disadvantage, published in 2015-16, made two recommendations intended to help women take pregnancy and maternity discrimination cases to an Employment Tribunal:</p><p> </p><ul><li>in light of the findings of the review, make changes to the Employment Tribunal fee system to ensure that fees are not a barrier to accessing justice for women experiencing pregnancy and maternity discrimination, and</li><li>consider increasing the time limit for a woman to bring an Employment Tribunal claim in cases involving pregnancy and maternity discrimination from three to six months, in line with other employment claims such as redundancy and equal pay.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Fees for bringing a claim before an Employment Tribunal have now been withdrawn, following the case of <em>R (on the application of Unison) v Lord Chancellor</em> on Employment Tribunals fees. We immediately stopped charging fees in Employment Tribunals after the Supreme Court judgment and said we would refund those who had paid fees. The full refund scheme was launched on 15 November.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Tribunal rules already allow the time limit to bring a claim be extended where it is just and equitable to do so. Government has asked H.M. Court and Tribunal Service to consider the scope for collecting data on the number of requests made for extensions and the types of cases involved. The Government will consider the results of any exercise carefully to see if any further action is required.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 22/02/2018 16:50:27 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4518 label Biography information for Tulip Siddiq

837385

registered interest
date	05/02/2018
answering body	Women and Equalities
answering dept id	31
answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
hansard heading	Disability: Mental Health
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the Government plans to amend the Equalities Act 2010 to widen the definition of disability to include people with a mental health condition.
tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
uin	126504
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2018 answer text <p>The Equality Act 2010 defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.</p><p>People with mental health conditions that fall within this definition are already protected from discrimination and are entitled to reasonable adjustments.</p><p>However, we are aware that people with certain mental health conditions, such as those with fluctuating or moderate symptoms, can have difficulty proving that they meet the Equality Act’s definition of disability, creating an extra barrier to challenging discrimination.</p><p>The Government is therefore exploring a number of options to extend or clarify protections from discrimination for people with certain mental health conditions, including through the Equality Act 2010.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 12/02/2018 14:55:33 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

837439

registered interest
date	05/02/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Conversion Therapy
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to criminalise the practice of gay conversion therapy.
tabling member constituency	Washington and Sunderland West
tabling member printed	Mrs Sharon Hodgson
uin	126558
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2018 answer text <p>This Government is clear that a person’s sexual orientation is not an illness to be cured and we are not prepared to see such activity continue either in the regulated professional sector or outside of it.</p><p>The Government has already taken steps to prevent the practice of gay conversion therapy in the UK. We have worked with the main registration and accreditation bodies for psychotherapy and counselling practitioners to develop a Memorandum of Understanding to put a stop to this bogus treatment.</p><p>We do not currently have plans to introduce new criminal offences for practising gay conversion therapy, but we are keeping the issue under close review.</p><p>In 2017, the Government Equalities Office carried out a survey of the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the UK, which included several questions about gay conversion therapy. The survey received more than 100,000 responses, making it one of the largest surveys of LGBT people’s experiences ever conducted.</p><p>The results of the survey are currently being analysed and the Government’s response will be published later this year. Due to the significant response rate to the survey, we believe this data will give us a much better view of the scale and significance of conversion therapy in the UK, and it will allow us to investigate further the steps that Government as a whole could take to address this issue.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 12/02/2018 15:25:59 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	1521 label Biography information for Mrs Sharon Hodgson

837455

registered interest
date	05/02/2018
answering body	Women and Equalities
answering dept id	31
answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
hansard heading	Employment: Equality
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, which (a) Government Departments and (b) public sector agencies have powers to investigate breaches of (i) equality law and (ii) employment law.
tabling member constituency	Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford
tabling member printed	Yvette Cooper
uin	126574
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/02/2018 answer text <p>The Equality and Human Rights Commission has powers to investigate breaches of equality law.</p><p>Public bodies with the powers to investigate breaches of employment law are as follows:</p><p>• HM Revenue &amp; Customs on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy - breaches relating to the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage;<br>• The Employment Agency Standards inspectorate (part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) - breaches relating to the domestic regulations applicable to employment agencies and employment businesses;<br>• The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority - breaches relating to temporary labour in high risk sectors in the fresh food supply chain. The Authority also has powers to investigate modern slavery and other labour abuse offences;<br>• The Health &amp; Safety Executive, and other health &amp; safety regulators - breaches relating to health and safety at work including elements of the Working Time Regulations.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 13/02/2018 16:32:50 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	420 label Biography information for Yvette Cooper

837519

registered interest
date	05/02/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Domestic Abuse: Refuges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on ensuring the availability of safe accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence.
tabling member constituency	Telford
tabling member printed	Lucy Allan
uin	126638
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2018 answer text <p>Home Office Ministers are working very closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to find a sustainable future for refuges and other forms of safe accommodation, in order that we meet the specialist needs of all those fleeing domestic abuse</p><p>In addition, the Home Secretary regularly discusses issues relating to all Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) at the VAWG Inter-Ministerial Group.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 12/02/2018 14:52:26 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4411 label Biography information for Lucy Allan

837595

registered interest
date	05/02/2018
answering body	Women and Equalities
answering dept id	31
answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
hansard heading	Pupils: Bullying
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle the bullying of LGBTQ children in schools.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	126714
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/02/2018 answer text <p>The Government has sent a clear message to schools that bullying, for whatever reason, is unacceptable. It can have a devastating effect on individuals, blight their education and have serious consequences for their mental health.</p><p>All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils. They have the freedom to develop their own anti-bullying strategies appropriate to their environment but are held to account via Ofsted</p><p>In September 2016, we announced a £3 million programme from 2016-2019 to prevent and address homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in a sustainable way. This programme focuses on primary and secondary schools in England that currently have no or few effective measures in place. <br>Six grantees have been funded as part of the programme to deliver interventions in at least 200 schools each. The grantees are Barnardo’s, LGBT Consortium, Metro Charity, National Children’s Bureau, Proud Trust and Stonewall.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 15/02/2018 12:13:14 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

837601

registered interest
date	05/02/2018
answering body	Women and Equalities
answering dept id	31
answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
hansard heading	Sexual Harassment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of laws tackling sexual harassment in the workplace.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	126720
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2018 answer text <p>The Government is clear that unwanted conduct in the workplace that violates a person’s dignity or creates a hostile or degrading atmosphere is unacceptable. Legal protection from such harassment in the workplace exists through the Equality Act 2010, with more serious, criminal offences covered in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and the Sexual Offences Act 2003. We believe this legislation provides adequate protection for both men and women in the working environment; however, we will continue to keep the operation of the legislation under review, to ensure that it works as intended.</p><p>We also recognise that employers may try to get employees to sign away their rights in non-disclosure agreements. In fact the law makes any such agreement unenforceable, should an employee subsequently take action under the Equality Act or the criminal law.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 12/02/2018 16:02:18 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

835954

registered interest
date	02/02/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Home Office: Childcare Vouchers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many employees of her Department make use of the childcare voucher scheme.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
uin	126309
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2018 answer text <p>Approximately 1300 Home Office employees are currently using the childcare voucher scheme, based on the January 2018 orders, although usage varies over time and will be higher or lower during different months of the year.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 28/02/2018 13:06:50 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

835959

registered interest
date	02/02/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Vetting
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average time taken was for the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to (a) process the DBS application and either scan or return to the applicant for amendments, (b) search the Police National Computer, (c) search the Children's Barred List where appropriate, (d) search the Adults' Barred List where appropriate, (e) search the records held by local police where appropriate and (f) print the DBS certificate and return all necessary documentation to the applicant (i) nationally, (ii) in London and (iii) in Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in each year since 2016.
tabling member constituency	Hampstead and Kilburn
tabling member printed	Tulip Siddiq
uin	126314
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2018 answer text <p>Table 1 shows the average number of days taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to scan an application, search the Police National Computer, search the records held by local police where appropriate and to print the DBS certificate for applications nationally.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Period</p></td><td><p>a) Time to Scan the Application (days)</p></td><td><p>b)Time to Search PNC (days)</p></td><td><p>e) Time to Search Local Police Records (days)</p></td><td><p>f) Time to Print Certificate (days)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>01-Apr-16 to 31-Mar-17</p></td><td><p>0.54</p></td><td><p>2.42</p></td><td><p>9.72</p></td><td><p>1.72</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>01-Apr-17 to 31-Dec-17</p></td><td><p>0.73</p></td><td><p>3.32</p></td><td><p>5.11</p></td><td><p>1.66</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Table 2 shows the average number of days taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to scan an application, search the Police National Computer, search the records held by local police where appropriate and to print the DBS certificate for applications with a London postcode.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Period</p></td><td><p>a) Time to Scan the Application (days)</p></td><td><p>b)Time to Search PNC (days)</p></td><td><p>e) Time to Search Local Police Records (days)</p></td><td><p>f) Print Certificate (days)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>01-Apr-16 to 31-Mar-17</p></td><td><p>0.48</p></td><td><p>2.37</p></td><td><p>23.88</p></td><td><p>1.61</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>01-Apr-17 to 31-Dec-17</p></td><td><p>0.61</p></td><td><p>3.09</p></td><td><p>5.49</p></td><td><p>1.53</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Table 3 shows the average number of days taken by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to scan an application, search the Police National Computer, search the records held by local police where appropriate and to print the DBS certificate for applications within the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Period</p></td><td><p>a) Time to Scan the Application (days)</p></td><td><p>b)Time to Search PNC (Days)</p></td><td><p>e) Time to Search Local Police Records (days)</p></td><td><p>f) Print Certificate (days)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>01-Apr-16 to 31-Mar-17</p></td><td><p>0.53</p></td><td><p>2.27</p></td><td><p>20.46</p></td><td><p>1.59</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>01-Apr-17 to 31-Dec-17</p></td><td><p>0.62</p></td><td><p>2.95</p></td><td><p>4.44</p></td><td><p>1.51</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Figures for the average processing time for returning paper applications cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.</p><p>Checks of the Children’s barred list and the Adults’ barred list are carried out in parallel to the local police checks and data on the average time taken to conduct these checks cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 07/02/2018 17:57:10 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4518 label Biography information for Tulip Siddiq

836045

registered interest
date	02/02/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Home Office: Land
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much land (a) her Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies owns in (i) England and (ii) the South West;, and how much of that land has been identified as being surplus to requirements.
tabling member constituency	Filton and Bradley Stoke
tabling member printed	Jack Lopresti
uin	126400
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/02/2018 answer text <p>The UK Government is a significant landowner. The current Government Estate Strategy sets out the Government's vision to create an efficient, fit-for-purpose and sustainable estate whose performance matches the best of the private sector. As a Government we are delivering this vision, ensuring that the estate is fit for purpose, is frequently reviewed and aligned to the Estate Strategy, and is managed in an efficient and effective way.</p><p>Of the total land the Home Office holds in England, 8.6 hectares is currently declared as surplus, none of which are in the South West. These figures include agencies and non-departmental public bodies.</p><p>Details of the department's surplus land holdings are published on the register of surplus land: <a href="https://data.gov.uk/dataset/epimstransparency" target="_blank">https://data.gov.uk/dataset/epimstransparency</a></p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 12/02/2018 16:58:50 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	3989 label Biography information for Jack Lopresti