Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department took to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2020.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Every year, International Men’s Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and the important work going on every day to address this. This year’s theme was “Better health for men and boys”. Defra group marked this day with a blog by our Deputy Gender champion, Mark Thompson. Mark highlighted the inclusion agenda for men, in particular mental health issues and how our networks help and support employees. In addition, our newly formed Gender Board has raised the need to engage men better in gender equality conversations.
Linked to this year’s theme, details of the ASK TWICE campaign were shared with employees. The campaign is specifically aimed at men, and is part of the national Time To Change initiative led by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness which aims to change the way we think about, and take action on, mental health problems.
In addition to supporting International Men’s Day this November, across Defra group we support many UK gender-based initiatives, including Movember. One example is a panel discussion on International Men’s Day itself, hosted by our Women’s Network and the Defra Movember campaign. During this session various Equality, Diversity and Inclusion network leads discussed a range of subjects related to male stereotypes: e.g. men’s health, mental health, fatherhood and how to support men in the workplace. These sessions reflected the fact that these issues affect everyone: colleagues, friends, husbands, wives, partners, families and organisations. Another example this November has been the Defra Cancer Network partnering with our Black Asian and Minority Ethnic Network to run two online events highlighting how different aspects of cancer may affect individuals across gender lines. These events were supplemented by the sharing of personal stories of prostate cancer across the group via blogs, with the objective of tackling stigma around men’s health issues. This content featured links to useful information with messages encouraging employees “if in doubt, get it checked”.
To complement these network-led sessions, groups have been set up on our internal Yammer pages. Examples include #Team EA Movember which provides an opportunity for employees to fundraise and the Movember page for anyone wanting to join the conversation, or to become a Movember Workplace Ambassador. We have also started an anonymous WhatsApp group, providing a safe place for men to talk with others who are currently suffering or have previously suffered from cancer or mental health problems.
Finally, we use other opportunities throughout the year to raise and address issues of concern to men. For instance, Defra group marked Carers’ Rights Day on 26 November in support of men with caring responsibilities. Through our HR policies and standard work practices, Defra group continues to ensure all men have access to flexible working and shared parental leave, giving them the opportunity for work-life balance and the ability to take time away from the workplace to fulfil their caring responsibilities.
Defra organisations recognise that talking is important. We appreciate that for many people it is easier to simply say “I’m OK” than to admit they have problems. In recognition of our differences, Defra group is committed to finding ways that enable anyone and everyone to reach out for help, regardless of their gender identity - whether cis, trans, fluid or non-binary.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department took to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The Home Office recognised International Men’s Day on 19 November 2019 with a news item on our internal intranet site. The story explained the significance of the event and that the day shone a positive light on male role models, fatherhood and men’s issues.
It also highlighted the importance of good mental health for men. The story included an audio interview with a member of staff who discussed his experience of adoption and fatherhood. All staff had an opportunity to engage in these communications.
Asked by: Paul Farrelly (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he is making to increase the recruitment and retention of childcare professionals.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department continues to support employer trailblazer groups to develop new apprenticeship standards for the early years workforce and to access funding for apprenticeship training. Organisations with a pay bill of less than £3 million each year are only required to pay 5% of the training costs for apprentices (within the relevant funding band). Alongside this, the Department is investing £20 million for in-service professional development and training for pre-reception early years practitioners in targeted disadvantaged areas from 53 local authorities.
The Department also continues to work closely with the sector to look at issues that might be affecting recruitment and retention in the early years workforce. For example, the Fatherhood Institute has been awarded a grant to develop tools and resources aimed at increasing gender diversity in the early years sector. In partnership with Ofsted the Department has also supported a project led by the Early Years Alliance to explore and respond to workload burdens in the sector.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to encourage schools to recognise and promote the role fathers should play in preparing their sons for future fatherhood.
Answered by Lord Nash
All pupils, irrespective of gender, have the opportunity to learn about the responsibilities of fatherhood in non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education or as part of the wider school curriculum.
Schools are free to draw on the non-statutory programme of study produced by the PSHE Association in planning their provision. The programme of study includes topics on the roles and responsibilities of parents and the value of family relationships. Issues relating to parenting skills are included for pupils at key stage 3.
Following the Government’s announcement of 1 March about proposals for Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and PSHE, we plan to undertake a comprehensive programme of engagement with stakeholders about future provision in these areas. While we are not proposing to put content of the subjects on the face of legislation as this is too prescriptive and risks the legislation becoming out of date as the world changes, this process of engagement will enable us to get the balance of content right in guidance, enabling schools to design appropriate curricula. Regulations and statutory guidance will be subject to full public consultation later this year and the regulations will be subject to debate and vote in Parliament. Our plan is for schools to teach statutory Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and PSHE (subject to consideration and consultation), from September 2019.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their decision to make sex and relationship education compulsory in schools, whether they will consider requiring all schools that have male pupils to recognise and promote the importance of the role of fathers in society; and what steps they are taking to promote responsible fatherhood and appropriate preparation of boys and young men for responsible fatherhood.
Answered by Lord Nash
All pupils, irrespective of gender, have the opportunity to learn about the responsibilities of fatherhood in non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education or as part of the wider school curriculum.
Schools are free to draw on the non-statutory programme of study produced by the PSHE Association in planning their provision. The programme of study includes topics on the roles and responsibilities of parents and the value of family relationships. Issues relating to parenting skills are included for pupils at key stage 3.
Following the Government’s announcement of 1 March about proposals for Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and PSHE, we plan to undertake a comprehensive programme of engagement with stakeholders about future provision in these areas. While we are not proposing to put content of the subjects on the face of legislation as this is too prescriptive and risks the legislation becoming out of date as the world changes, this process of engagement will enable us to get the balance of content right in guidance, enabling schools to design appropriate curricula. Regulations and statutory guidance will be subject to full public consultation later this year and the regulations will be subject to debate and vote in Parliament. Our plan is for schools to teach statutory Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and PSHE (subject to consideration and consultation), from September 2019.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what policies his Department is implementing to promote active fatherhood; and if he will make it his policy that fathers be required to sign birth certificates.
Answered by Priti Patel
Our objective is to support families to create and maintain good quality relationships to sustain a safe, stable and nurturing environment for their children. We believe that fathers play an integral role in family life and that is why the government has worked hard to ensure that families have the support they need. In particular, we have invested approximately £8m for 2015-16 providing services for couples – mothers and fathers - during key transitions and in difficulty. We have ensured that all specifications for new contracts specifically include a requirement for providers to engage fathers and ensure their services are father friendly.
We have also introduced the Family Test which ensures that potential impacts on family functioning are carefully considered as part of the policymaking process, including impacts on all members’ ability to play a full role in family life.
The legislative provisions to introduce mandatory joint registration remain on the statute and we will continue to consider how joint registration can support fathers’ involvement as part of a wider package of support.