Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 7th February 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Mims Davies)]

The hon. Lady joined me yesterday at the disability action plan event, where many stakeholders welcomed the changes and opportunities in disabled people’s lives. Many disabled people want to work, and we at the Department for Work and Pensions will always ensure that we listen to their wants and needs and that they will never be forced into anything that is not suitable for them.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

At 5 pm today, women’s groups and other community groups in Gosport will be staging a peaceful protest about the Lib Dem council’s decision to completely end all live CCTV monitoring. They are worried about the impact on people’s safety. Does the Minister agree with them?

[Kemi Badenoch]

It is important that people understand that CCTV and street lighting are important in helping women to feel safe on the streets. I fully understand the campaign and I am glad that my hon. Friend is supporting it. We are doing everything we can in Government to reduce violence against women and girls.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Thursday 18th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Oliver Dowden]

That is precisely why we set up the Public Sector Fraud Authority and I can update the House that in its first year it met more than double its target. In addition, there are both civil and criminal investigations ongoing to bring every person responsible to justice if they have defrauded the taxpayer.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

My constituency boasts the highest number of veterans of any in the UK, with about 12% of people having served, but the veterans agency is not assisting me and other MPs like me in serving my constituents, because when I raise issues with it, it insists on responding via ministerial correspondence from the Ministry of Defence. There can therefore be no direct interface with it, making it very time-consuming and frustrating for my constituents. Will the Minister get the veterans agency to introduce an MPs helpline so that veterans’ concerns can be answered quickly and efficiently?

[The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs (Johnny Mercer)]

I believe my hon. Friend is referring to Veterans UK, which is being retired because I am well aware of the plethora of issues. We have staff there who work incredibly hard but with very poor resource, and consequently the experience of veterans has not been what I want it to be. We are retiring that brand and completely revamping those services. I take on board the point about an MPs hotline, which exists in other Departments, and I can confirm that we are looking to establish the same thing in the new organisation to meet these claims.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Gentleman, and I totally agree with him. Paul Grayson was an incredible comic, but he also—[Hon. Members: “Paul O’Grady!”] Yes, Paul O’Grady. In terms of Lily Savage, some of that comedy broke glass ceilings and boundaries in a way that politicians would struggle to do, so I agree with the hon. Gentleman on that. I also think it shows how we need greater, more rambunctious free speech and how we need to avoid the wokery and the limitations on comedy, which, I am afraid, both of them would have had no time for.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

Q13. I would like to associate myself with the words of the hon. Member for Rhondda (Sir Chris Bryant). Paul O’Grady was a great champion of animal welfare as well. The biggest cause of death for children under the age of 14 in this country is cancer, and I have been calling for a childhood cancer mission to radically change how we detect, treat and care for children with cancer, covering everything from genome science for detection right the way through to seven-day-a-week play facilities in children’s wards. The Health Secretary has been brilliant—he has met me and been really positive about this—but will the Deputy Prime Minister restate the Government’s support for a childhood cancer mission?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I certainly will. The suffering that any child must go through when they get a condition such as cancer at such an early age is difficult to believe, and the pressure on the families is incredible. I thank my hon. Friend for her work on this. The Department of Health and Social Care will publish a major conditions strategy to look at improving outcomes and experiences for all cancer patients, including children in particular. I cannot pre-empt that, but I know that it will draw on previous work, including submissions from the various childhood cancer charities, and I pay tribute to the work that they do.

Tributes to Her Late Majesty the Queen

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Saturday 10th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

The overwhelming theme of the past two days has been our late Queen’s unparalleled service, duty and dedication. Those are qualities that are particularly understood and valued in my Gosport constituency, set as it is on the shores of Portsmouth harbour and firmly in the heart of our Royal Navy community. It is home to a vast number of service personnel and veterans, people who show enormous duty, dedication and service in every aspect of their professional lives. Not solely as their commander-in-chief, Her Majesty had very strong personal links to our armed forces. Her father was in the Royal Navy, she herself served in the second world war, and of course the enduring love of her life was that very handsome naval officer. The longest serving head of any military unit, she led by example, with an entire life and reign of service and duty.

One of my greatest memories was the Queen’s visit, just a short hop away across Portsmouth harbour, for the commissioning ceremony of her namesake, the flagship Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, in December 2017. It took place in a mammoth hangar inside that colossal ship, packed full of members of the ship’s company, their families, dignitaries and many more who served in her name. I watched that tiny figure, surrounded by enormous crowds and giant objects in that vast space: she was dressed in beautiful purple and commanded the respect, dedication, love and service of all those who gathered. She exuded warmth, putting them all at their ease.

It was quite a sight—an incredible woman, a female leader in the days decades before that was fashionable. She was in a job she had not applied for, with a responsibility she had not sought and a role that she was not even born to do. On her 21st birthday, as we have heard, she said:

“I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service”.

If ever in history there was a promise or commitment that was kept, my goodness it was that one.

I have found great comfort in the past couple of days in seeing precious video clips of Her Majesty in her downtime, enjoying herself, cheering on her horses at Royal Ascot or petting her beloved corgis. It is clear, as many others have said, that she had a zest for life and a sense of mischief. She had the most incredible ability to surprise and delight us, and many have spoken of her mission with 007 and her love of marmalade sandwiches with Paddington Bear. Her Majesty once said:

“Grief is the price we pay for love.”

The sadness that is felt by my constituents across Gosport, Lee-on-the-Solent, Stubbington and Hill Head surely shows how much we all loved her. In the words of Paddington Bear:

“Thank you Ma’am, for everything.”

God save the King.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 7th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

People should not have to wait as long as they are for ambulance services, and my new Health Secretary is immediately tackling this issue. She has already laid out her priorities, and sorting out the ambulance service is one of them.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

May I, too, warmly welcome our new Prime Minister to her role, and indeed all her Front Benchers to theirs?

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and, as my right hon. Friend knows, cancer is still the biggest killer of children under the age of 14. Will she restate her Government’s commitment to publishing a 10-year cancer strategy, and can that strategy embed a childhood cancer mission at its very heart?

[The Prime Minister]

Cancer is a devastating disease, and it is particularly heartbreaking when children have cancer. We will certainly proceed with the strategy that my hon. Friend has mentioned, and I know that our new Health Secretary will do all she can to help those children with cancer.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 13th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alan Mak]

As part of our cost of living support package, we have introduced a very specific disability cost of living payment, worth £150 per person. I would add that in the spending review, the UK Government gave the Scottish Government £41 billion a year as part of its settlement: the biggest since devolution, and a 26% increase compared with the average across the UK.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

5. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support female entrepreneurs.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Chloe Smith)]

We set up a taskforce on women-led high growth enterprise, which met for the first time this month. It will use its convening power to influence high growth investors and the business community, and to raise aspiration of the next generation of female entrepreneurs right across the country.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage]

I thank the Minister for that answer, but the fact is that if women were starting and scaling businesses at the same rate as men it would add a staggering £250 billion to the UK economy. We need to turbocharge the investment and support we are giving to female entrepreneurship. What thought has been given to pivoting some of the existing financial packages, such as the enterprise investment scheme, to better support women-led enterprises?

[Chloe Smith]

The enterprise investment scheme has specific objectives. It is designed to encourage investment in higher risk early stage companies. However, the Government are committed to supporting women entrepreneurs in a range of ways, as highlighted by the implementation of recommendations from the Rose review. I would be happy to ask a colleague of mine to discuss the issue further with my right hon. Friend.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

The hon. Gentleman will know, because I have said it in the House on a number of occasions, that it would be inappropriate to consider the application of the Sewel convention until we have the text of the Bill of Rights, but he will not have to wait too much longer for that.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

T5. Will my right hon. Friend look again at whether there are any opportunities to support grandchildren to have better access to their grandparents following a divorce or bereavement?

[Tom Pursglove]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue. The Government understand the important role that grandparents often play in children’s lives—I can very much relate to that through my own experiences growing up—and the stability they can provide, particularly during times of divorce, separation or bereavement. I know that she had a productive meeting with my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister recently. This matter is under active consideration at pace and we will revert to her as quickly as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 12th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Simon Baynes (Clwyd South) (Con)]

6. What steps she is taking to support women in enterprise.

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

9. What steps she is taking to support women in enterprise.

[The Minister for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch)]

The Government continue to support women in enterprise by implementing the recommendations of the Rose review. Our start-up loans company has advanced more than 35,000 loans to women since 2012, worth nearly £300 million, and that represents 40% of all loans.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dame Caroline Dinenage]

Covid particularly impacts on women in business, and the sectors in which they are predominant need to be protected by the Government. What more can we do?

[Kemi Badenoch]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Some of the sectors most impacted by covid, such as the arts and hospitality, include a high proportion of women-led businesses. She will be aware of the targeted measures to help these sectors that were announced just last month by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, including one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises for the hospitality sector and £30 million through the culture recovery fund. That support will help female entrepreneurs to keep trading through the current difficulties and make the most of future opportunities as they look forward to the end of the pandemic.

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 7th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Streatham) (Lab)]

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to prevent online abuse and hate towards women by (a) involuntary celibates and (b) others who use hate speech.

[The Minister for Digital and Culture (Caroline Dinenage)]

Online abuse and hate towards women is completely unacceptable, and no one should have to experience threats to their safety or abuse online—and even offline. Under our groundbreaking online safety legislation, companies will need to take swift and effective action not only on illegal content, but on legal but harmful content, including abuse and hate speech.

[Bell Ribeiro-Addy]

Involuntary celibate groups—incel groups, as they are known—are increasingly on the rise. This online community understands society to be hierarchised along the lines of sexual attractiveness, and these misogynists blame women for their own lack of status and for forcing them into involuntary celibacy. The harbouring of hate and resentment towards women has manifested itself in a spate of deadly terrorist attacks across the Atlantic, with at least two cases of terrorism here in the UK motivated by incel ideas. Will the Minister commit to having discussions with the Home Secretary to identify, and proscribe where necessary, any forms of this deadly misogynist hate group? Moreover, as most of this hate occurs online, can the Minister tell us what steps the online harms Bill will take to end this online abuse against women, when it will be introduced and when its measures will take effect?

[Caroline Dinenage]

I pay tribute to the hon. Lady for the work that she is doing to call out online abuse. She is absolutely right: there is no place for this sort of behaviour online. The online harms Bill will make much clearer the links between what online companies say they do and what they actually do, and women will be better supported to report abuse and should expect to receive appropriate, swift action from the platform. In addition, we have sponsored the Law Commission review on harmful online communications, looking at whether the law needs to be tightened around this issue; that will be reporting back shortly.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

What steps she is taking with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to reduce the employment gap for Black, Asian and ethnic minority people.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con) [V]]

Nine in 10 school-aged girls are being subjected to indecent exposure on their phones, iPads and computers, but they are told that that is not a crime. Often, the picture is of male genitalia. When will the Government make the non-consensual taking, making and sharing of all intimate sexual images a crime for adults and children? Surely, we do not need yet more review before action is taken.

[The Minister for Digital and Culture (Caroline Dinenage)]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to this issue. As part of its review of harmful online communications, the Law Commission is considering offences around the sharing of intimate images, including things like cyber-flashing, which she mentioned, and is looking to identify whether there are any gaps in existing legislation. It will publish the results of the review very shortly, and we will consider them all very carefully.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab) [V]]

After I was told by a local school student of her experience of sexual harassment working in a restaurant, and of the power imbalance that made it difficult to raise that harassment with her employer, I have worked with the Sheffield Star, the business improvement district, the chamber of commerce, the council, the police and others on a campaign to “Know The Line” for zero tolerance of sexual harassment in the hospitality sector. Will the Secretary of State back our campaign, and will she say when the Government will finally respond to the results of the 2019 consultation on sexual harassment in the workplace?

Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Dinenage Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent) (Lab)]

What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on tackling online abuse targeted at women.

[The Minister for Digital and Culture (Caroline Dinenage)]

There has been a worrying rise in the amount of abuse, harassment and intimidation online, and women are often disproportionately targeted by such abuse. It is completely unacceptable and, in fact, impacts individuals’ rights to participate online. We set out robust measures to deal with this in the online harms White Paper and will be publishing a full Government response to this later in the year.

[Nick Smith]

I am glad that the Minister recognises this point. Almost one in two women report experiencing online abuse since the start of covid-19. However, the Government have delayed the draft of the online harms Bill until, I understand, the end of 2021. Legislation is clearly needed now, so when will the Government bring the Bill forward?

[Caroline Dinenage]

I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is misinformed. We are absolutely committed to making the UK the safest place to go online. The online harms White Paper will set out how we are going to make world-leading legislation. We intend to publish that before the end of the year and the legislation to follow at the very beginning of next year.

[Dan Carden (Liverpool, Walton) (Lab)]

What progress has been made on the implementation of the Government’s LGBT action plan.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)]

What recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the training and competition opportunities for young (a) female and (b) disabled athletes preparing to take part in the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024 and beyond.

[The Minister for Digital and Culture (Caroline Dinenage)]

Appropriately, a question on sport as I sprint to the Dispatch Box.

We remain committed to supporting our young, female and disabled Olympic and Paralympic athletes through this very difficult period. We continue to work with UK Sport to ensure that athletes are assisted and supported in their preparation for the Tokyo games and beyond to Paris 2024.

[Jamie Stone]

Does the Minister agree that this kind of investment will establish role models, which will encourage people to get active in their own communities?

[Caroline Dinenage]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his new role as the spokesperson on digital, culture, media and sport. He asks his question on a very appropriate day as today is National Fitness Day. He is absolutely right: if you can see it, you can be it. We want to inspire the next generation of young people to get physically fit and active not only for their own physical health, but for the mental health and well-being that it brings.

[Alicia Kearns (Rutland and Melton) (Con)]

If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.