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838085

registered interest
date	06/02/2018
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	Public Sector: Equality
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have not bought into force section 1 of the Equality Act 2010; and whether they will now do so following recommendations by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL5426
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2018 answer text <p>This Government is committed to creating a country that works for everyone, where success is based on merit, not privilege, and where everyone has the chance to go as far as their talents and hard work will take them. That is why the Government has in place a number of strategies to address social mobility and improve outcomes for those who experience disadvantage.</p><p>Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 is the public sector duty regarding socio-economic inequalities, which the Government has no plans to commence in England.</p><p>We believe that specific programmes designed to address social mobility problems in particular areas will be a more effective approach than blanket and potentially burdensome legislation of this type.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 19/02/2018 14:07:39 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

838122

registered interest
date	06/02/2018
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	Part-time Employment: Pay
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking regarding reports of stagnant pay progression for part-time workers, particularly with regard to the gender pay gap.
tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
uin	HL5450
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2018 answer text <p>The majority of part-time workers are women, especially mothers of young children, and they often choose part-time work in order to balance work and family care. The unequal sharing of childcare responsibilities between men and women is a key driver of the gender pay gap. The Government is committed to tackling the gender pay gap, including through introducing a legal requirement for business to report their gender pay gaps in April this year. The Government has also taken measures to help parents to balance work and childcare. We introduced the right to request flexible working in 2014, and we have also introduced tax-free childcare and 30 hours free childcare for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to support working families. We also launched a communications campaign on Shared Parental Leave on 12 February.</p><p>In response to Matthew Taylor’s Good Work report the Government will launch a joint taskforce with industry on flexible working to unlock the potential in the labour market, including amongst women.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 19/02/2018 14:06:50 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

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

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

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

834335

registered interest
date	31/01/2018
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	Government Equalities Office: Directors
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January to Question 124786, on Government Equalities Office: Directors, what the (a) names and (b) dates of departure from their posts were of the most recent non-executive directors in the Government Equalities Office.
tabling member constituency	Vale of Clwyd
tabling member printed	Chris Ruane
uin	125955
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2018 answer text <p>The Government Equalities Office (GEO) reports to Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, and works with Baroness Williams, Minister for Equalities, and Victoria Atkins, Minister for Women. It has not had a board since 2012, when its non-executive directors were Janet Soo-Chung CBE, Judy McKnight CBE and Peter Bungard.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 07/02/2018 13:06:22 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	534 label Biography information for Chris Ruane

834362

registered interest
date	31/01/2018
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	Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when her Department plans to publish the evaluation report on the pilot Access to Elected Office Fund.
tabling member constituency	Lewisham, Deptford
tabling member printed	Vicky Foxcroft
uin	125982
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2018 answer text <p>The evaluation of the Access to Elected Office Fund will be published in due course.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 06/02/2018 17:47:23 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4491 label Biography information for Vicky Foxcroft

833935

registered interest
date	30/01/2018
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	Harassment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of re-enacting s40 of the Equality Act 2010.
tabling member constituency	Oxford West and Abingdon
tabling member printed	Layla Moran
uin	125693
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2018 answer text <p>The Government does not believe it is necessary to re-enact S.40. The provisions at S.40(2) of the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), which dealt with third party harassment, were repealed in 2013, as part of the Coalition Government’s ‘Red Tape Challenge’, because they were unnecessary, confusing and little used. Anyone wishing to bring a claim of harassment at work, including by a third party, should be able to do so using the provisions under S.26 of the Act together with the specific prohibitions on harassment in the Act, such as those in Part 5, which cover employment. <br> <br>The Government condemns all forms of harassment and this is why the Prime Minister has committed to reviewing non-disclosure agreements, and any evidence suggesting they are being used improperly.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 06/02/2018 11:32:49 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4656 label Biography information for Layla Moran

833972

registered interest
date	30/01/2018
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 Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to review sexual harassment laws to ensure those laws are adequate in tackling unsafe work environments for women.
tabling member constituency	Croydon Central
tabling member printed	Sarah Jones
uin	125729
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2018 answer text <p>Legal protection from harassment in the workplace exists through the Equality Act 2010, 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 recognise the risk that unscrupulous employers may try to intimidate vulnerable employees into signing away their legal rights in non-disclosure agreements. However, such agreements cannot be used to prevent an individual from asserting their statutory rights either under the employment Rights Act 1996 or the Equality Act 2010: to the extent that they are so used, they will be unenforceable.</p><p>The Government has nonetheless committed to look at the structures around non-disclosure agreements and the evidence that is coming forward about how they are being used.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 07/02/2018 13:01:53 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4631 label Biography information for Sarah Jones