Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Elizabeth Truss Excerpts
Wednesday 22nd July 2020

(3 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Nadia Whittome Portrait Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East) (Lab)
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What steps the Government are taking to tackle discrimination against transgender people.

Elizabeth Truss Portrait The Minister for Women and Equalities (Elizabeth Truss)
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We are committed to tackling discrimination against transgender people. We have invested £4 million for schools to tackle anti-LGBT bullying, and we have addressed homophobic hate crime in the hate crime action plan.

Nadia Whittome Portrait Nadia Whittome
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Successive Conservative Equalities Ministers have repeatedly stalled on publishing the results of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 consultation. Leaked reports of a potential roll-back on trans rights have understandably caused alarm. With hate crimes against trans people up nearly 40% on last year, does the Secretary of State agree that her quibbling on this issue is fanning the flames of populist hate towards an already marginalised group?

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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As the Prime Minister said, we will respond to the consultation over the summer. Let me be absolutely clear: we will not be rolling back the rights of transgender people. It is important that transgender people are able to live their lives as they wish, without fear, and we will make sure that that is the case.

Marsha De Cordova Portrait Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab) [V]
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In July 2018, the Government announced that they were seeking views on how best to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004 in a consultation that closed in October 2018. Nearly two years later, the Government have still not published their response. Trans rights are human rights, and updating the GRA will help to improve the lives of trans people. Today the House will rise, and the Minister has previously stated that the Government would publish their response. When will she finally publish the Government’s response and their plans for reform?

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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As I said, we will respond to the consultation over the summer—the Prime Minister committed to that earlier this week—and I assure the hon. Lady that I am very keen to get on with that response.

Sarah Owen Portrait Sarah Owen (Luton North) (Lab)
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What steps the Government are taking to tackle the level of reported hate crime against south and east Asian communities during the covid-19 pandemic.

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James Grundy Portrait James Grundy (Leigh) (Con)
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What plans she has for the Equality Hub to tackle geographical and socio-economic inequality.

Elizabeth Truss Portrait The Minister for Women and Equalities (Elizabeth Truss)
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The Prime Minister has set out his vision to level up and spread opportunity across the country, and the Equality Hub will play an important part in realising that vision by rigorously analysing where the real inequality in Britain is today. It will focus in particular on areas such as geography and social background.

Jerome Mayhew Portrait Jerome Mayhew
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Rural poverty is easy to overlook in picturesque areas that other people associate with holidays and a slower pace of life, but it is every bit as hard and destructive for those affected. Can my right hon. Friend advise the House on what action the Government are taking to address rural deprivation?

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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My hon. Friend makes a good point. We want everybody across the country to benefit from our levelling-up agenda of investing more in transport infrastructure and dealing with educational inequality. We recognise that deprived rural areas can face additional barriers to opportunity. The Equality Hub will analyse the data and look at where that inequality of opportunity is, so that Departments can take measures to address them.

James Grundy Portrait James Grundy
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How might northern constituencies, such as my constituency of Leigh, which according to some measures is in the top 20% most deprived constituencies in the country, benefit from the plans my right hon. Friend mentioned earlier?

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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We want to make sure that no part of our country feels forgotten about, particularly towns and cities in the north and the midlands, such as my hon. Friend’s constituency. I can assure him that we will do everything we can to look at the roots of that geographical inequality and to make sure his constituents have the best opportunities in life.

Naz Shah Portrait Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)
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What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on steps that the Race Disparity Unit is taking to help tackle racial injustices in society.

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Luke Evans Portrait Dr Luke Evans (Bosworth) (Con)
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If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities. [R]

Elizabeth Truss Portrait The Minister for Women and Equalities (Elizabeth Truss)
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I have been clear that the Government are committed to tackling the abhorrent practice of so-called gay-conversion therapy in the UK. As the Prime Minister reiterated earlier this week, this practice has no place in civilised society. Our action will be determined by research looking at how best to define conversion therapy, the scale of the issue, where it is happening and who it is happening to. When that research is complete, I will bring forward proposals to ban conversion therapy, making sure that our measures are effective so that no innocent people have to endure such tortuous practices.

Luke Evans Portrait Dr Evans [V]
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As we approach to the summer holiday recess, it looks like we all need it. With that in mind, what steps are the Government taking to tackle the effects of body-image issues on young people? Will the Minister meet me to consider the merits of a law that requires a logo to be displayed if an image of a human body or body part has been digitally altered in its proportions?

Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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We are working closely with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the issue of body image and its impact on young people. I would be happy to organise a meeting, possibly with those Ministers who are leading on the issue. I also welcome the work that the Women and Equalities Committee is doing on the subject.

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Elizabeth Truss Portrait Elizabeth Truss
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The key priority during the coronavirus crisis is to make sure that we keep women in jobs, and that has been our No. 1 focus as a Government. Of course, it is vital that we address the issues that cause the gender pay gap, and we continue to help more girls study maths and science, which I talked about earlier, and we also continue to address discrimination in the workplace.

Kirsten Oswald Portrait Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP) [V]
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Last year, the UK Government consulted on extending—[Inaudible.] By 2019, the UK Government committed to improving redundancy protection. However, no legislation [Inaudible.] Will the Minister provide an update on what progress has been made or is it, as I fear, that there has not been any?