Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Written Statement of 15 December 2020, HCWS652, on Unconscious bias training, what steps he has taken to phase out unconscious bias training in his Department.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
Prior to the written statement of 15 December, MHCLG signposted colleagues to the Unconscious Bias online learning provided by Civil Service Learning (CSL) via the Learning Platform for Government (LPG). This learning was removed from the platform by CSL in line with the written statement and can no longer be accessed by MHCLG colleagues. MHCLG colleagues have not been signposted to alternative unconscious bias training and the Department has not designed or delivered any bespoke unconscious bias training designed specifically for an MHCLG audience.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department took to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2020.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
MHCLG believes that no one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. As such, it conducts internal communications activity around International Men’s Day as it does with other awareness days.
International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight where we need to do more to improve outcomes for men and boys, as well as an opportunity to talk about some of the work being done across Government to tackle those issues.
This work includes preparation for an Employment Bill which, subject to further consultation, will make flexible working the default unless employers have good reason not to; and delivering the Suicide Prevention Workplan, which sets out action that is being taken across Government departments and the NHS to reduce suicides, including amongst men.
The Government is committed to levelling up opportunity and ensuring fairness for all - regardless of gender or background.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the biggest pay rise given to someone in his Department was in (a) percentage and (b) cash terms in the last 12 months.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
During the 12 month period ending 30 September 2020 the largest salary increase for any member of staff, whilst working in the same role, within the Department was 21.4 per cent on the previous salary. This equated to £5990 in cash terms.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many times the (a) Union Jack, (b) St George's flag, (c) Scottish Saltire and (d) flag of Wales has been flown from the headquarters of his Department in London in each year since 2015.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Department’s London headquarters is a shared building, which MHCLG jointly occupies with the Home Office and DEFRA. The Home Office manage the property and are responsible for the flying of flags on the property.
The table below sets out the number of number of occasions each flag has been flown in the appropriate years;
|
| (b) St George’s | (c) Saltire | (d) flag of Wales | |||
2015 | Every day 24/7 | St George’s day | 1 | St Andrew’s day | 1 | St David’s day | 1 |
2016 | Every day 24/7 | St George’s day | 1 | St Andrew’s day | 1 | St David’s day | 1 |
2017 | Every day 24/7 | St George’s day | 1 | St Andrew’s day | 1 | St David’s day | 1 |
2018 | Every day 24/7 | St George’s day FIFA world cup | 2 | St Andrew’s day | 1 | St David’s day | 1 |
2019 | Every day 24/7 | St George’s day Women’s FIFA world cup Rugby WC semi-final Rugby WC final | 4 | St Andrew’s day Women’s FIFA world cup | 2 | St David’s day Rugby WC semi-final | 2 |
2020 | Every day 24/7 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) Union Jack, (b) St George, (c) Scottish Saltire and (d) Flag of Wales flags his Department owns.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Department’s London headquarters is a shared building, which MHCLG jointly occupies with the Home Office and DEFRA. The Home Office manage the property and are responsible for the flying of flags on the property.
The table below sets out the number of number of occasions each flag has been flown in the appropriate years;
|
| (b) St George’s | (c) Saltire | (d) flag of Wales | |||
2015 | Every day 24/7 | St George’s day | 1 | St Andrew’s day | 1 | St David’s day | 1 |
2016 | Every day 24/7 | St George’s day | 1 | St Andrew’s day | 1 | St David’s day | 1 |
2017 | Every day 24/7 | St George’s day | 1 | St Andrew’s day | 1 | St David’s day | 1 |
2018 | Every day 24/7 | St George’s day FIFA world cup | 2 | St Andrew’s day | 1 | St David’s day | 1 |
2019 | Every day 24/7 | St George’s day Women’s FIFA world cup Rugby WC semi-final Rugby WC final | 4 | St Andrew’s day Women’s FIFA world cup | 2 | St David’s day Rugby WC semi-final | 2 |
2020 | Every day 24/7 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of (a) the Towns Fund and (b) other measures in revitalising high streets.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Through the £3.6 billion Towns Fund, we are working with 100 towns to agree proposals that will invest up to £25 million in each place. Partners from the private and public sector in each of the areas for the towns selected have already come together to develop a Town Deal Board that will be the vehicle through which the vision and strategy for the town is defined. The Government recognise the importance of putting in place robust monitoring and evaluation processes to ensure we can measure the effectiveness of these interventions and will publish further guidance in due course.
This Government has also brought forward a number of initiatives to support our high streets, including our £1 billion Future High Streets Fund, the new pilots being run by the High Streets Task Force, Great British High Street Awards, and increasing small business rates relief from one third to 50 per cent.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Civil Service is striving to be the most inclusive employer in the United Kingdom, and it is driving a culture of inclusion across its departments, where everyone has a sense of belonging and in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, an environment where no one is treated unfairly because of their gender.
To this end, there has been an increase in the number of “family friendly” policies driven across Civil Service departments, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, work flexibly e.g. from home or from a hub, allowing men to become and active part of the “School Run”. In addition to these policies, there is a programme tackling LGBT bullying in schools which seeks to protect those who may be victimised by outdated and stereotypical ideas of what it means to be a ‘real man’.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is working with local authorities to ensure that their suicide prevention plans support more men, and in our Domestic Abuse Bill we proposed to create a statutory definition of domestic abuse that makes clear men also can be victims of this abhorrent crime.
In 2018, MHCLG marked International Men's Day 2018 with our Women’s network hosting a panel event to discuss the key international Men’s day 2018 theme, under the headings:
mental health and masculinity;
the role of flexible working and integration in promoting gender equality; and
shared parental leave.
This year, our Deputy Director of Inclusion and co-chair of the award winning Cross – Government Race to the Top G6/7 network, Bernadette Thompson, is leading on a high profile cross-government event, working in collaboration with the Faith and Minority Ethnic (FAME) network in the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) targeted at the ethnicity/gender intersect, focused on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) men, who we know have a different experience and face additional barriers to their carrier progression as a result of this intersect.
The conference is open to all men irrespective of grade in the Civil Service and the main purpose of the conference is to: showcase positive male role models from the BAME community; inspire, empower, encourage and motivate BAME men who are civil servants; and to build a cadre and network of BAME men across the Civil Service. The event will be opened by the BEIS Permanent Secretary, Alex Chisholm and the keynote address will come from Lord Woolley of Woodford followed by a panel of 6 men.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the main policy priority is for his Department for 2018; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jake Berry
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published an updated Single Departmental Plan on 23 May 2018. This set out the department's main policy objectives and how it will achieve them. Single Departmental Plans will be revised annually to reflect new priorities or changes in responsibilities.