Caroline Lucas

My officials and I have met with stakeholders from across the spectrum when developing our approach to banning conversion practices to ensure that our proposals are effective and well understood. This includes meetings with victims of conversion practices, stakeholders from medical backgrounds including signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding, as well as representatives from a range of faiths and charities, and parliamentarians.

As soon as parliamentary time allows, we will introduce a Bill to ban conversion practices based on sexual orientation, while undertaking further work in relation to transgender conversion practices and delivering a comprehensive victim support service for all those affected or at risk.

Since COP26, 11 NDCs have been submitted. The UK continues to push for all countries, particularly the major emitters, to revisit and strengthen their NDCs as necessary to align with the Paris temperature goal before the UNFCCC Synthesis Report deadline of 23 September. The UK, chairs the NDC Partnership with Jamaica, made up of more than 115 countries. We support member countries by offering a tailored package of expertise, technical assistance, and funding.

I have regular engagement with countries, partners and civil society, including through international fora such as the G7, G20, the recent May Ministerial on Implementation and Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, among others.

Since COP26, 11 NDCs have been submitted. The UK continues to push for all countries, particularly the major emitters, to revisit and strengthen their NDCs as necessary to align with the Paris temperature goal before the UNFCCC Synthesis Report deadline of 23 September. The UK, chairs the NDC Partnership with Jamaica, made up of more than 115 countries. We support member countries by offering a tailored package of expertise, technical assistance, and funding.

I have regular engagement with countries, partners and civil society, including through international fora such as the G7, G20, the recent May Ministerial on Implementation and Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, among others.

Period poverty is an issue the government takes very seriously and has taken a number of steps to address the problem.

Since January 2020, a Department for Education scheme provides free period products in schools and 16-19 education institutions in England. 94% of eligible secondary schools had accessed this scheme by December 2021.

Additionally, from 1 January 2021, the ‘tampon tax’ has been abolished - with a zero rate of VAT applying to all period products. Prior to the abolition of the tax, a Tampon Tax Fund was in place to allocate the funds generated from the VAT on period products, to projects which improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls. A final round of £11.25 million in grant funding was awarded in November 2021 to distribute the VAT collected on period products in the final nine months of the 2020/21 financial year, before the tax ended.

As well as these steps, in 2019, NHS England announced that it would offer period products to every hospital patient who needs them and the Home Office changed the law to ensure that all people in custody are provided with health and hygiene products for free, to include period products.

In March 2020, in light of COVID-19, the work of the Period Poverty Taskforce was paused to free up resources to focus on the pandemic.

Period poverty is an issue the government takes very seriously and has taken a number of steps to address the problem.

Since January 2020, a Department for Education scheme provides free period products in schools and 16-19 education institutions in England. 94% of eligible secondary schools had accessed this scheme by December 2021.

Additionally, from 1 January 2021, the ‘tampon tax’ has been abolished - with a zero rate of VAT applying to all period products. Prior to the abolition of the tax, a Tampon Tax Fund was in place to allocate the funds generated from the VAT on period products, to projects which improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls. A final round of £11.25 million in grant funding was awarded in November 2021 to distribute the VAT collected on period products in the final nine months of the 2020/21 financial year, before the tax ended.

As well as these steps, in 2019, NHS England announced that it would offer period products to every hospital patient who needs them and the Home Office changed the law to ensure that all people in custody are provided with health and hygiene products for free, to include period products.

In March 2020, in light of COVID-19, the work of the Period Poverty Taskforce was paused to free up resources to focus on the pandemic.

The House of Commons Commission has not made any such assessment but, when the House authorities are notified of an arrest, a safeguarding concern or certain other investigations relating to serious sexual misconduct, a risk assessment is undertaken. Individual risk assessments are confidential and only shared with those responsible for acting on them.

The House of Commons Commission takes the safety of the Parliamentary community very seriously and will consider this matter at its meeting on 13 June.

The House of Commons Commission takes the safety of the Parliamentary community very seriously. The Commission has heard representations from trade union representatives on this matter and will give it further consideration at its meeting on 13 June.

The House of Commons Commission takes the safety of the Parliamentary community very seriously. The Commission has heard representations from trade union representatives on this matter and will give it further consideration at its meeting on 13 June.

At COP26, 141 countries committed to halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030 in the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use, this is underpinned by almost $20 billion of public and private finance. In the activities supported by the pledge we will promote the full, effective, and willing participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in programmes that protect and restore forests, reduce deforestation and forest degradation, and we will work to ensure that benefits reach smallholders and local communities.

At COP26 the UK launched in partnership with Fiji a Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance, to improve access to financial flows for the most vulnerable. This proposes a new approach which aims to deliver a transformational step change in access at the national and local levels and to spur a related shift in the wider public climate finance architecture, improving the predictability, flexibility, transparency, affordability, and speed of disbursement of climate finance.

At COP26, 28 countries representing 75% of the global trade in agricultural commodities launched a roadmap of actions under the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) Dialogue. The countries committed to continuing the dialogue, working together and meeting regularly to support implementation of the roadmap actions. This will include sharing experiences, finding common ground, and developing joint actions in support of the shared aims of promoting sustainable development and trade while protecting forests and other critical ecosystems. The UK will work closely with FACT countries to implement the actions identified in the roadmap.

The UK Government is committed to taking bold action to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. However, we are clear that countries cannot tackle environmental and climate crises alone; we need a concerted global effort. The Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use is an unprecedented commitment from 142 countries, covering over 91% of global forests, to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. It’s underpinned by almost $20bn of public and private finance, by sustainable trade and by support for indigenous peoples’ rights. We will work with other countries that endorsed the Declaration to convert this political commitment into strong action on forests and land use. This will include working through multilateral events in 2022 such as meetings of the G7 and G20, and at COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

All Parties to the Paris Agreement must report on their progress towards its goals via nationally determined contributions - which cover every emitting sector including forests and land use. At COP26, as part of the Glasgow Climate Pact, countries agreed to revisit and strengthen their current emissions targets to 2030 in 2022.

The quarterly lists of Ministerial meetings with external organisations do not include engagement with representatives of foreign governments. It is in the national interest that some diplomacy takes place privately, to allow open and candid discussions with other nations.

Notwithstanding this fact, Downing Street regularly publishes on GOV.UK summaries of diplomatic meetings and telephone calls, including those discussing climate change and COP26.

More broadly, I refer the Hon. Member to my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s oral statement today on the COP26 Summit.

The quarterly lists of Ministerial meetings with external organisations do not include engagement with representatives of foreign governments. It is in the national interest that some diplomacy takes place privately, to allow open and candid discussions with other nations.

Notwithstanding this fact, Downing Street regularly publishes on GOV.UK summaries of diplomatic meetings and telephone calls, including those discussing climate change and COP26.

More broadly, I refer the Hon. Member to my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s oral statement today on the COP26 Summit.

When the red list changed on 7 October, there were 280 managed quarantine bookings made by COP26 participants through the bespoke COP26 booking system. We have engaged with all of the individuals that booked and gave a country of departure that is no longer on the red list.

The UNFCCC Trust Fund for Participants, to which the UK Government contributes, has paid for the costs of necessary flight changes for funded delegates.

We are continuing to fund managed quarantine stays for all COP26 participants, including party delegates, media and observers that would otherwise find it difficult to attend COP26.

Ahead of COP26, we are calling for global action and ambition to reduce emissions from all sectors in order to meet net zero by 2050 – including in agriculture, forestry and other land use, which is collectively responsible for 23% of global emissions.

On i) we are pushing countries to make ambitious commitments to curb the dual crisis of biodiversity loss and climate change, which will be announced at COP26 in November. This will put us on a path to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and mitigate the climate crisis.

In addition, this year the UK has convened meetings between the COP26 and COP15 Presidencies and their respective Secretariats to increase synergies and jointly address the interlinked crises of climate, biodiversity and land through integrated approaches. Discussions have explored the importance of unified action at all levels to restore the land that sustains us, halt the loss of biodiversity, and mitigate and adapt to climate change.

On ii) the science is clear that in order to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change we must limit warming to 1.5c. This is why we are urging all parties to submit ambitious NDCs that keep this target within reach by COP26.

On iii) the UK is pursuing a hugely ambitious package of outcomes from COP15 that goes beyond agreement of new global biodiversity goals and targets, but also puts in place the core elements needed to drive real-world change. These are: 1) a set of ambitious targets to deliver on our overall goal of ‘bending the curve of biodiversity loss by 2030’; 2) significantly increased mobilisation of global resources from all sources and a shift towards nature positive decision-making across all sectors; 3) strengthened accountability to mitigate the risk that countries agree ambitious targets but fail to take meaningful steps to deliver change.

We have heard and agree with calls from civil society for the need for a high level political focus on loss and damage at COP26 and in the run up to COP27. The UK is currently consulting Parties on the idea of a high level envoy for loss and damage.

We agree that a clear pathway is needed and intend to respond to parties’ and observers’ calls (including at the July ministerial) to step up efforts to address loss and damage, through locally-owned plans, institutional capacity, technical expertise and accessible finance. We will have a dedicated session at Pre-COP with Ministers designated to lead discussions. We also expect this to play a significant part in the discussions at COP26, subject to the agreement Parties reach on the agenda of the conference in the coming weeks.

As incoming Presidency, the UK has been gathering Parties’ views on what more is needed in addition to the Santiago Network to deliver progress on Loss and Damage. An emerging point is the need for existing funds and action in the international and humanitarian system to be better coordinated and scaled up, and better oriented to local level needs.

We are working with the international community to increase support for locally led action, including through the Adaptation Action Coalition. In parallel the UK is asking other donors to follow our example in supporting the LDC’s Initiative for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE AR) which has the aim of assisting LDCs to put in place plans, finance and delivery mechanisms to respond to local needs. The UK endorsed the Principles for Locally Led Adaptation at the Climate Adaptation Summit in January 2021, and successfully persuaded other Foreign and Development ministers to do the same under the UK’s G7 Presidency. We are also working to address the barriers that restrict and prevent finance flowing to the local-level through the Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance.

We welcome the input of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and have been engaging with them through their regional dialogues, as well as through bilateral engagement on their suggestions and plans for COP26.

In my role as COP26 President, I have met with more than 100 Ministers from at least 65 countries. As part of these discussions, as well as in public fora, I have set out the importance of developed countries meeting and surpassing the commitment to jointly mobilise $100 billion of climate finance a year through to 2025, from a range of public and private sources.

At both Ministerial and official level we continue to raise the need for finance and action on loss and damage, noting that relevant finance for averting, minimising and addressing loss and damage comes from sources under and outside the convention.

As COP26 incoming Presidency, the UK has convened six consultations (workshops and a Heads of Delegation meeting) which have devoted substantial time to the issue of operationalising the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage, in addition to a dedicated session on loss and damage at the July Ministerial which I convened in London where the issue of finance was raised. I will also hold discussion on adaptation, loss and damage, and finance at pre-COP at the end of September, with a view to political leaders providing the strategic framing for negotiator-level discussions at COP26.

As COP26 incoming Presidency, the UK has convened six consultations (workshops and a Heads of Delegation meeting) which have devoted substantial time to the issue of developing the Santiago Network, in addition to a dedicated session at the July Ministerial which I convened in London. The agenda for COP/CMA will be decided on by the Parties. My officials are also discussing the agenda with Parties over the next few weeks. Whether the Santiago Network will be operational by the end of this year depends on the view that Parties take at the conference on the process they wish to follow, but the UK will use our convening power to maintain momentum and encourage a fair, inclusive and impactful outcome.

The OECD figures recently published showed that developed countries were still significantly short of the $100 billion goal in 2019, mobilising $79.6 billion. We have seen recent progress. President Biden’s recent announcement that the US is doubling their climate finance to $11.4 billion by 2024 is a major step towards the achievement of the $100 billion goal. However, we need all developed countries to step up with enhanced pledges, and the Presidency is continuing to encourage developed countries to increase their commitments, including to feed into the Germany-Canada led Delivery Plan.

The UK is ensuring a large majority of our international climate finance is grant-based. We are pressing other donor countries for similarly ambitious commitments. Under our G7 Presidency, the G7 committed to scaling up adaptation finance, and we have seen concrete new individual pledges from Canada, Japan, the US, and Denmark in recent months to this effect. The UK has committed to delivering a balance through our scaled up ICF and has joined the Champions Group on Adaptation Finance, composed of donors committed to delivering a balance of adaptation in their climate finance in response to calls from developing countries.

The OECD figures recently published showed that developed countries were still significantly short of the $100 billion goal in 2019, mobilising $79.6 billion. We have seen recent progress. President Biden’s recent announcement that the US is doubling their climate finance to $11.4 billion by 2024 is a major step towards the achievement of the $100 billion goal. However, we need all developed countries to step up with enhanced pledges, and the Presidency is continuing to encourage developed countries to increase their commitments, including to feed into the Germany-Canada led Delivery Plan.

The UK is ensuring a large majority of our international climate finance is grant-based. We are pressing other donor countries for similarly ambitious commitments. Under our G7 Presidency, the G7 committed to scaling up adaptation finance, and we have seen concrete new individual pledges from Canada, Japan, the US, and Denmark in recent months to this effect. The UK has committed to delivering a balance through our scaled up ICF and has joined the Champions Group on Adaptation Finance, composed of donors committed to delivering a balance of adaptation in their climate finance in response to calls from developing countries.

In the run up to COP26, we are continuing to engage with local authorities and leaders across the UK through the UK Mayors and Regions Advisory Council. We also work closely with a number of non-state actor organisations such as the C40 Cities, ICLEI and UK100 to help further engage with local authorities.

BEIS has contributed towards a locally led campaign delivered through the local energy hubs, to highlight work on net zero by Local Authorities, communities and businesses across the UK. This will include running regional Electric Vehicle roadshow events in the run up to COP and hosting events in each region during the COP itself.

Electronic voting was used for 10 divisions between 12 May and 20 May inclusive. Members voted using MemberHub. The Public Bill Office operated a back-up system: if a Member could not register their vote using MemberHub, they contacted the Public Bill Office during the division and their vote was recorded. The table below shows how many Members registered their vote using the back-up method, and the total number of votes cast in each division.

The Commission received an update on the House Service’s response to the pandemic at its meeting on 11 January, and agreed a number of measures to further improve the safety of people on the Parliamentary estate. Electronic voting was raised at the meeting, and there is a range of views among Commissioners on this issue. However, the means by which Divisions are conducted are ultimately a matter for the House to determine.

Between July 2019 and July 2020 the LGBT Advisory Panel has met three times: on 18 July 2019, 4 February 2020 and 1 June 2020. Former Minister for Equalities, Baroness Williams, attended the meeting in February 2020. Minister for Women and Equalities Rt Hon Liz Truss and I attended the meeting in June 2020.

The minutes of the meeting held July 2019 are available on the GEO website and the minutes for the meeting held February 2020 will be published in due course. No minutes were taken for the meeting of June 2020 as this was an introductory meeting between the Panel and new Ministers.

In the nine months to September 2018, before the 25p surcharge, catering (non-banqueting) sales for hot beverages was £655,640 incl VAT. In the nine months to date, after the surcharge, hot beverage (non-banqueting) sales were £727,203 incl VAT.

There has been a reduction from 58,000 paper cups per month being sold to 15,000 on average. It is not possible to count the number of such paper cups which enter Parliamentary waste containers, but visual observation of the contents of segregated compostable waste shows that many of the compostable cups are disposed of within the Estate.

This Question was answered on 11 June 2019.

The Commission has collected information on the estimated despatch dates for the first issue of poll cards to registered electors for the European Parliamentary election. The earliest estimated dates were in the week commencing 15 April 2019 and the latest dates were in the week commencing 6 May 2019; the average dates for despatch were in the week commencing 22 April 2019.

The timing of despatch of poll cards varies by local authority area and will depend on factors such as the ability of print suppliers to meet RO requirements.

Returning Officers (ROs) are required to send out poll cards to electors as soon as practicable after the publication of the notice of election. The confirmation received on 7 May 2019 that the election would proceed would therefore have had no impact on the decisions of ROs as to when to send out poll cards.

The Commission continues to provide guidance, support and challenge to Regional and Local ROs. It will report on the administration of the poll and the performance of ROs against the performance standards after the election.

The UK Government supports the work of the Council of Europe and continues to support the European Social Charter (1961). Since the European Social Charter came into force in the UK we have introduced a number of policy and legislative reforms that provide equivalent or greater protections for individuals in the field of equal pay.

We have also ratified a number of international conventions which provide equivalent protections and which the UK has implemented via national legislation.

We are fully committed to the Equal Pay protections in the Equality Act 2010. In 2014, we introduced equal pay audits for when employers are found to have breached equal pay law and in 2017 we introduced gender pay gap reporting.

Our equal pay legislation complies with EU requirements, which are reflected in Article 4.3 of the European Social Charter. We are committed to ensure that the robust protections provided by Equality Acts 2006 and 2010 and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland continue to apply after the UK leaves the EU, as will Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which will become part of EU-retained law.

The Government Equalities Office have been focused on ensuring support is in place for disabled candidates for the forthcoming local elections in May. The £250,000 interim EnAble Fund for Elected Office has been open since December 2018.

Alongside this, officials have met political parties, including the Green Party, and several disability organisations to work on options and solutions for long-term support including for smaller parties and independents.

While this work is ongoing political parties should consider how best to put in place sustainable measures to support disabled candidates.

The EnAble Fund for Elected Office is an interim fund primarily for the forthcoming local elections in May. It is available until March 2020 or until its total of £250,000 is exhausted, whichever is sooner.

The fund is therefore timebound. No general election is scheduled for the time period of the fund. We have however committed to consider parliamentary by-elections on a case by case basis should they arise.

We will publish an impact equalities assessment on the fund in due course.

On 3 December, the Minister for Women and Equalities launched the £250,000 EnAble Fund for Elected Office to support disabled candidates, primarily for the forthcoming English local elections in 2019.

This is an interim fund while the Government undertakes a programme of work with disability stakeholders to help major and smaller political parties better support disabled candidates. Disability Rights UK, the largest pan-disability organisation in the UK, supported by the Local Government Association, will deliver the fund.

The EnAble Fund is now open for candidates to apply and political parties have been notified. Further information is available via this link: https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/enablefund.

GEO is working on what the interim funding will cover and how it will be delivered. The Minister for Women and Equalities is keen that the delivery model and the communications around it help reinforce that political parties have the prime responsibility for supporting their disabled candidates. Further details will be announced in due course.

We are working on what the interim funding will cover and how it will be delivered. Further details will be announced in due course and will take account of other relevant provision – for example, as part of its Be a Councillor programme, the Local Government Association (LGA) provides on-line information and, via its four Political Groups, face-to-face training and other support.

The Be a Councillor programme is funded by an improvement grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and promotes the role of councillor to individuals, with a particular focus on underrepresented groups. The LGA Political Groups delivering the programme include smaller parties and independents. This reflects my belief that it is for political parties to do what is necessary to support all their candidates and prospective candidates, including those who have a disability.

We are working on what the interim funding will cover and how it will be delivered. Further details will be announced in due course and will take account of other relevant provision – for example, as part of its Be a Councillor programme, the Local Government Association (LGA) provides on-line information and, via its four Political Groups, face-to-face training and other support.

The Be a Councillor programme is funded by an improvement grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and promotes the role of councillor to individuals, with a particular focus on underrepresented groups. The LGA Political Groups delivering the programme include smaller parties and independents. This reflects my belief that it is for political parties to do what is necessary to support all their candidates and prospective candidates, including those who have a disability.

I apologise for a late reply. The hon member asked when the evaluation report on the 2012-2015 Access to Elected Office Fund will be published. It will be published shortly.

The Administration Committee discussed a range of initiatives proposed to reduce the consumption of single use disposable plastics on 26 March 2018, including the introduction of the 25p charge for disposable cups on the Parliamentary Estate.

The Committee endorsed all the proposed measures including the introduction of the 25p charge, which will be implemented before the House returns from the summer recess later this year. They were agreed by the Commission on 14 May.

A comprehensive statement outlining the strategy being implemented to tackle single-use avoidable plastics over the next 12 months was published on 15 May:

https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/commons/media-relations-group/news/parliaments-ambitious-plastic-plans-unveiled-/

We intend to publish this report shortly.

The consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004 will be published in due course, which will then run for at least 12 weeks. We are currently considering the content of the consultation.

We have been using the time to analyse the responses of trans people to National LGBT survey, who shared their experiences of and views on applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate under the Gender Recognition Act. We will publish the results of this survey shortly.

Our engagement with a range of people and organisation ahead of the consultation launch has been very valuable too. The Government recognises that there are a wide range of views on how we might reform the Act, and we have taken the time to listen to transgender, LGBT, women’s rights and faith groups.

We will continue to engage with stakeholders before, during, and after the consultation, as well as across Whitehall to ensure we fully understand what impact there could be from any reform to the Gender Recognition Act.

Following recommendations made to all public sector bodies in the Environmental Audit Committee’s Report, ‘Plastic Bottles: Turning back the plastic tide’, the House Service is currently reviewing the sustainability and environmental management of single use disposable plastics in the House of Commons.

A paper is to be submitted for discussion at the Administration Committee in March 2018 outlining the initiatives that can be taken forward to reduce the consumption of single use disposable plastics on the estate and increase recycling rates of all waste materials. I will ensure that the hon. Member’s suggestion is conveyed to the Committee.

I refer the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion to the answer I gave on 5 July 2017, http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2017-06-28/1672/. There are no further details to add at this time.

The Access to Elected Office Fund was run by the Coalition Government between 2012 and the election of 2015. The Fund closed after that election and an evaluation was subsequently carried out. The evaluation and any decision made in the light of it will be published in due course.

We understand that the claimants in this case have sought permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. We are currently awaiting the Court’s decision on whether to allow the appeal so we are unable to comment further on the case.

As you know, a General Election has been called. This means that a decision on this policy area will be for the next Government.

As we set out previously, the Government carried out a consultation on the future of civil partnerships in 2014. The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. Given the lack of any consensus, the Government did not change the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

As the Government has said previously, we carried out a consultation on the future of civil partnerships in 2014. The review found that there was no clear consensus on the future of civil partnerships. Given the lack of any consensus, the Government did not change the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

The decision not to change the law was judicially reviewed last year and the Government won in the High Court. The Court of Appeal recently dismissed an appeal against the High Court judgment and confirmed that the Government’s approach is lawful.

We welcome the Court’s ruling. We will carefully consider this judgment and its implications before deciding on our next steps.

We understand that the claimants in this case have requested an appeal of the Court’s decision.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is the regulator for the public sector equality duty set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. The Commission uses a range of levers to ensure local authorities and other public bodies comply with the requirements of the duty, from provision of guidance through to enforcement activity where it considers there to be a strategic benefit.

In light of the Brighton University report highlighted by the Honourable Member, the Commission will be writing to the Local Government Association (LGA) drawing its attention to the findings of the research and of the Commission’s evidence of the key equality challenges facing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and asking the LGA to remind local authorities of their legal obligations under the public sector equality duty.