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1735606

registered interest
date	21/10/2024
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	Wheelchairs: Access
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on accessibility of workplaces to wheelchair users.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	10082
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2024 answer text <p>The Equality Act 2010 (the Act) protects disabled people from discrimination in the workplace. The Act requires employers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and jobseekers to ensure that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to their non-disabled colleagues. This could include improving access to premises for wheelchair users, through installing ramps or other auxiliary aids or services.</p> answering member constituency Oxford East answering member printed Anneliese Dodds question first answered 29/10/2024 17:42:10 answering member 4657 label Biography information for Anneliese Dodds
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1605412

registered interest
date	20/03/2023
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	Women: Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department are taking to reduce incidences of workplace misogyny.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	169288
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2023 answer text <p>Everyone should be able to live without fear of harassment or violence, in the workplace as much as anywhere else. Strong laws against workplace harassment are set out in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>We listened carefully to the experiences shared through our consultation on sexual harassment in the workplace, and committed to a new package of measures which will prioritise prevention. As part of this work, the Government is supporting the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill introduced by the Hon. Member for Bath, which will strengthen protections for employees against workplace harassment.</p><p>This builds on the steps we are taking to foster workplaces that celebrate diverse experiences and backgrounds. The Government’s Inclusion at Work Panel will tackle bias and ensure fairness in the workplace by developing and disseminating effective resources to help employers. This will help to create workplaces where everyone feels supported and encouraged to reach their career potential.</p> answering member constituency Lewes answering member printed Maria Caulfield question first answered 24/03/2023 09:45:38 answering member 4492 label Biography information for Maria Caulfield
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1490505

registered interest
date	19/07/2022
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: Religion
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment her Department has made of the prevalence of religion and belief discrimination in the workplace.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	39852
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2022 answer text <p>The prevalence of any alleged discrimination by employers because of religion or belief is not routinely monitored by government. However, there are clear provisions set out in the Equality Act 2010 which prevent employers from discriminating against an employee, or a prospective employee, because of religion or belief (including any lack of religion or belief).</p><p>The Government sponsors the Equality Advisory &amp; Support Service, which is a free service offering help and advice to anyone who feels that they have suffered discrimination, and the EASS statistics for contacts to the service relating to religion or belief discrimination within employment over the last five years are:</p><table><tbody><tr><td>Year</td><td>Number of contacts</td><td>% of all contacts to the service</td></tr><tr><td>2018</td><td>150</td><td>0.83%</td></tr><tr><td>2019</td><td>179</td><td>0.97%</td></tr><tr><td>2020</td><td>110</td><td>0.71%</td></tr><tr><td>2021</td><td>193</td><td>1.17%</td></tr><tr><td>2022 (to date)</td><td>59</td><td>0.84%</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The year 2021 saw an increase in contacts, partly due to a number of people claiming that it was their philosophical belief to object to having a vaccination against Covid. Such concerns would be registered by the service under the ‘religion or belief’ protected characteristic category.</p> answering member constituency Derby North answering member printed Amanda Solloway question first answered 22/07/2022 13:22:12 answering member 4372 label Biography information for Amanda Solloway
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1471624

registered interest
date	20/06/2022
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	Endometriosis
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on (a) the impact on women of waiting times for the diagnosis of and (b) the potential merits of additional funding for the training of specialists in endometriosis.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	21185
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/06/2022 answer text <p>Equalities Ministers have regular discussions with other Ministers across government on a range of issues, including women’s health.</p><p>We have invested £520 million to improve access to general practitioners (GPs) during the pandemic. This is in addition to £1.5 billion in 2020 to create an additional 50 million GP appointments by 2024, which will improve access for patients with endometriosis. The NHS has also published the Delivery Plan for Tackling the COVID-19 Backlog of Elective Care which sets out a clear vision for how the NHS will recover and expand elective services over the next three years.</p><p>On 23 December 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care published ‘Our Vision for the Women’s Health Strategy for England’, which sets out ambitions to improve the health and wellbeing of women in England and reduce disparities. The Women’s Health Strategy will be published later this year.</p> answering member constituency Saffron Walden answering member printed Kemi Badenoch question first answered 27/06/2022 16:15:13 answering member 4597 label Biography information for Kemi Badenoch
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1405152

registered interest
date	21/01/2022
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: Employment
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to (a) raise awareness of and (b) tackle the matter of sexual harassment of young women in the workplace.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	109229
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2022 answer text <p>Every woman should be able to live without fear of harassment or violence in the workplace as much as anywhere else. In July 2021, as part of our strategy to tackle violence against women and girls, the Government announced a new package of measures which will strengthen protections for those affected by harassment at work.</p><p>We will introduce a new duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as explicit protections against harassment by third parties. We are also supporting the Equality and Human Rights Commission to develop a statutory Code of Practice on workplace harassment, as well as preparing our own practical guidance for employers on preventing this issue.</p><p>In addition, the Government will be shortly launching a communications campaign to raise awareness and challenge behaviours that constitute violence against women and girls, including workplace harassment.</p><p>The steps we are taking will not only raise awareness of the nature and prevalence of sexual harassment in the workplace, but also motivate employers to prioritise prevention and ultimately improve workplace practices and culture.</p> answering member constituency Saffron Walden answering member printed Kemi Badenoch question first answered 26/01/2022 14:46:18 answering member 4597 label Biography information for Kemi Badenoch
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1362937

registered interest
date	25/10/2021
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	Females: STEM Subjects
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent estimate the Government has made of the proportion of women in work who are employed in the STEM sector.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	62726
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2021 answer text <p>It is difficult to give an accurate assessment of the proportion of women who are employed in the STEM sector as not all roles in the sector are STEM occupations. However, we want to ensure that women and girls can make informed choices about their career, including enabling more to work in STEM.</p><p>To enable more people into STEM sectors, the Government has introduced free courses through the National Skills Fund to enable adults to upskill and retrain.</p><p>In order to improve representation, we are encouraging more girls to take STEM subjects at school, college and university by rolling out several programmes and committing substantial funding to support STEM uptake.</p><p>In addition, we are improving careers advice in schools on routes into STEM careers, as well as sector specific action such as supporting the Tomorrow’s Engineers Code, managed by EngineeringUK.</p><p>Education and especially STEM is one of the key areas that the independent Gender Equality Advisory Council is looking at as part of our G7 Presidency and continues to be a key area for Government.</p> answering member constituency Saffron Walden answering member printed Kemi Badenoch question first answered 29/10/2021 12:52:05 answering member 4597 label Biography information for Kemi Badenoch
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1349018

registered interest
date	21/07/2021
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	Age: Discrimination
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to tackle age discrimination in the workplace.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	37469
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2021 answer text <p>The Equality Act 2010 (the Act) provides protection for those aged 16 and over against direct and indirect age discrimination in employment. The Act makes it unlawful for an employer to directly discriminate against an employee or a job applicant because of their actual or perceived age or the age of someone they are associated with. Differential treatment because of age is permitted if the employer can show that this is proportionate and in pursuit of a legitimate aim. There are also a number of other limited exceptions to the general prohibition.</p><p>It is also unlawful for an employer to indirectly discriminate on age grounds, for example by use of a recruitment policy which unjustifiably disadvantages particular age groups; to harass an employee for reasons related to their age and to victimise an employee for bringing or supporting a complaint under the Act.</p><p>A person who believes that they have experienced discrimination because of age, or other unlawful treatment, may take their case to an employment tribunal. Before doing so, we advise people to seek advice and if possible try to solve their issue through conciliation.</p> answering member constituency Saffron Walden answering member printed Kemi Badenoch question first answered 10/09/2021 09:50:27 answering member 4597 label Biography information for Kemi Badenoch
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1227172

registered interest
date	22/07/2020
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: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What assessment the Government has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on disabled people.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	905164
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting disabled people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>We continue to monitor and understand the impact of the pandemic on people who are disabled or have a health condition by using both existing and new data sources.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 22/07/2020 16:36:26 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1173640

registered interest
date	27/01/2020
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: Disability
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions her Department has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the fiscal support available for employers who incur costs by making reasonable adjustments for disabled employees.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	8286
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/01/2020 answer text <p>The Government is committed to protecting people with disabilities in the workplace. The Equality Act 2010 places obligations on employers in relation to disabled employees, including a duty to provide reasonable adjustments. However, the legislation recognises the need to strike a balance between the needs of disabled people and the interests of service providers. What is ‘reasonable’ will vary from one situation to another. This is because factors like the practicability of making the adjustment, the cost of the adjustment and the resources available to a business, will vary from one situation to another.</p><p>The government runs Access to Work, a demand-led discretionary grant scheme that offers up to £59,200 funding per year for in-work support for people whose disability or health condition affects the way they do their job. The scheme is designed to offer support above the level of employers’ statutory obligations under the Equality Act 2010, as well as providing advice to employers on in work support available for their employees which could include reasonable adjustments.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 30/01/2020 16:47:47 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1137727

registered interest
date	09/07/2019
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	Members: Maternity Leave
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions she has had with IPSA on their rules on funding for maternity leave.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	275190
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/09/2019 answer text <p>My Rt Hon Friend the Minister for Women and Equalities has not had any discussions with IPSA regarding funding for maternity leave but, like myself, she welcomes their work to improve support for MPs taking parental leave.</p><p> </p><p>We want all parents to take active and well-informed choices about balancing work and care, supported by a fair and clear Government offer. On 19th July, Government launched <em>Good Work Plan: proposals to support families</em> to consult on a range of options relating to reforming parental leave and increasing transparency around family friendly workplace policies.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 30/09/2019 16:54:13 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon