Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the open routes to Kabul airport remain safe to travel through.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible. We aim to bring out hundreds of British nationals, diplomats and Afghan interpreters a day. We are in close contact with our partners and allies about the security situation, including working with the US to help ensure the security and viability of the airport.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the research published by Ageing Better as part of their Who is at risk of missing out? project in relation to the inequalities between older BAME and white communities.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
This Government is committed to tackle prejudice, racism and discrimination - and to improve the quality of data and evidence about the types of barriers faced by people from different backgrounds to help drive effective and lasting change. That is why we have established a new Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities. This cross-government commission will examine all aspects of continuing racial and ethnic inequalities in Britain.
In addition, following the publication of the report ‘COVID 19: Review of disparities in risks and outcomes’, Minister for Equalities, Kemi Badenoch was asked by the Prime Minister to act on its findings. As part of this the Cabinet Office’s Race Disparity Unit is working closely with academics, scientists and analysts, to establish emerging data patterns and trends in regards to the impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minority communities.
Factors that are being considered include age and sex, occupation, obesity, comorbidities, geography, and ethnicity.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the recent Higher Education Statistics Agency statistics which suggest that gender and race inequalities are established immediately after university graduation.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
It is disappointing to see the disparities shown in the HESA Graduate Outcome Data publication, but it highlights why collecting this information is so important. To tackle these gaps the Government is focused on ensuring equality of opportunity exists for everyone.
To help us do this the Government has established an independent Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, which will examine ethnic inequalities across the whole population in the UK, and report by the end of this year.
To tackle income and employment disparities we are ensuring more women are equipped to enter STEM careers, where some jobs have higher than average wages, and we are encouraging flexible working, so parents are not held back. The Government is also doubling the number of front line staff at job centres, providing an extra £32m to recruit extra careers advisers and providing £17m for work academies in England to help make sure those looking for employment are offered the support they need to fulfil their potential.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the death of George Floyd.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have been clear that the death of George Floyd was appalling, inexcusable and deeply distressing. We are aware that a suspect has been charged and there is a federal review underway. We would hope and expect justice to be done.
The violence we have seen is clearly very alarming. People must be allowed to protest peacefully - peaceful protest remains a vital part of a democratic society and we understand the strength of feeling around this issue.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to review the process for repatriating British citizens from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The repatriation of British Citizens who wanted to leave the Diamond Princess cruise ship has now been completed. The Government keeps policy on repatriation of British nationals under constant review.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Iran’s reported use of violence against protestors in Tehran on 12 January.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
We are aware of reports of violence used against protesters in Tehran on 12 January. We unreservedly support the right to peaceful protest and call on Iran to uphold its commitments under international law to protect freedom of assembly and speech.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to ensure that companies publish their action plans for closing the gender pay gap.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Shadow Chief Whip (Lords)
The Gender Pay Gap among all employees in the UK continues to decline, currently at a record low of 17.3%.
This year, mandatory reporting regulations have seen over 10,000 employers report their gender pay gap for the second time, with around half of all employers in-scope of the regulations publishing action plans.
To close the gap entirely we need a much wider cultural change, which can’t be imposed from above. We strongly encourage all employers to publish action plans, prompting discussions about the drivers of the pay gap in their organisations. To support employers, we have published advice on how to diagnose their gaps and develop an effective action plan, alongside evidence-based guidance on practical actions they can take to close the gap. We actively disseminate this guidance to employers throughout the year to ensure they have the information they need to create an action plan.
This position is kept under review. If we do not think that employers are making enough progress, we will act.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they made as to whether the humans rights of workers building the stadium for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar have been violated.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Qatar has made significant progress to improve the situation for its workers, including migrant workers since it won the right to host the World Cup. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) opened an office in Doha in 2018 to work with Qatar on improving workers’ rights. We welcome the steps Qatar has taken to date to improve the treatment of workers in Qatar including its most recent announcements on labour reform to abolish the Kafala system by early 2020. We continue to encourage Qatar on making further reforms recommended by the ILO and stand ready to support.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the situation in Chile.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The United Kingdom Government is concerned at events that have occurred in Chile in recent days. We condemn the violence that has occurred and welcome the efforts of everyone who is working to restore the situation in the country to peace and normality. Our Embassy in Santiago are in close contact with the Chilean authorities, and will continue to monitor the situation closely.