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Written Question
Castes
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to exclude caste as a protected characteristic from the Equality Act 2010.

Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The government’s position remains as stated by the then Minister for Women and Equalities, the member for Portsmouth North, in her statement to Parliament on 23 July 2018.

We do not intend to make an order determining caste to be an aspect of ‘race’ for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010.

We will repeal the statutory duty to make such an order once a suitable legislative vehicle becomes available.


Written Question
Ethnic Groups: Equality
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what her planned timetable is for implementing the policies set out in the paper entitled Inclusive Britain: Government response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, published on 17 March 2022, CP 625.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Inclusive Britain sets out a ground-breaking action plan to tackle entrenched ethnic disparities, promote unity and build a fairer Britain for all.

In April 2023, we published a report to Parliament on the substantial progress we have made in delivering the plan.

We will publish a further update to Parliament in due course, including how many actions have been completed and a timeframe for delivering the remaining actions.


Written Question
Ethnic Groups: Equality
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress has been made on implementing the actions set out in the policy paper entitled Inclusive Britain: government response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, published on 17 March 2022.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Inclusive Britain sets out a ground-breaking action plan to tackle entrenched ethnic disparities, promote unity and build a fairer Britain for all.

In April 2023, we published a report to Parliament on the substantial progress we have made in delivering the plan.

We will publish a further update to Parliament in due course, including how many actions have been completed and a timeframe for delivering the remaining actions.


Written Question
New Businesses: Women
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with the Minister for Women and Equalities on the potential impact on women of the increase in the angel investor annual income threshold to £170,000.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chancellor announced at Budget that the Government will legislate to reinstate the previous eligibility criteria to qualify as a high net worth or sophisticated investor. The relevant legislation was laid in Parliament on 6 March, and is set to come into force on 27 March.


Written Question
Clinical Trials
Monday 11th March 2024

Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has taken recent steps with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to recruit more (a) people and (b) people from ethnic minority communities onto clinical trials.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

In the final report to the Prime Minister on Covid-19 health disparities, published in December 2021, the Minister for Women and Equalities recommended that the National Institute for Health Research and the NHS Race and Health Observatory work to increase ethnic minority representation in research projects and clinical trials. This became action 24 in Inclusive Britain, our response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic disparities, published in March 2022.

In April, we published a report to Parliament on the progress we have made in delivering this and the other 73 actions in Inclusive Britain. We will publish a further update to Parliament in due course.


Written Question
Pensions: Gender
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to close the gender pension gap.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The gender pension gap is a complex issue tied to the labour market, the private pensions system and demographic differences, but one the government takes very seriously. Addressing the gender pensions gap will only be possible through the collective effort of government, employers and industry.

The new State Pension was designed to correct some of the historic unfairness in the previous system, in particular for women. Our reforms are working, under the pre-2016 system women receive 85% of the amount received by men. This is currently 97% under the new State Pension.

Automatic enrolment (AE) has helped millions more women to save into a pension, with pension participation rates among eligible women in the private sector rising from 40% in 2012 to 86% in 2022. The government is committed to build on this success and is making progress on implementing the measures as set out in the 2017 review of AE. The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 was introduced into Parliament with government support and provides the necessary powers.

Once implemented, the measures will disproportionately increase the pension saving of lower earners; a woman working part-time earning National Living Wage could see her pension almost double as a result when saving over her career.

Our labour market policies will also help. Working parents will soon be even better supported through the extension of free childcare announced in the Spring budget in 2023. DWP also announced generous additional financial help to encourage and support lead carers of children who are receiving Universal Credit to move into or progress in work.

By 2027-28, the Government will expect to be spending in excess of £8bn every year on free childcare hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.

And we are working with stakeholders across government to better understand the challenge of the gender pension gap. In June, DWP published an official measure of this wealth gap, which is currently 35% between men and women shortly before they retire. The wealth gap between men and women who are eligible for automatic enrolment is lower, at 32%.

The publication of an official annual measure will help us track the collective efforts of government, industry and employers to reduce the Gender Pension Gap.


Written Question
Pensions: Gender
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to close the gender pension gap.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The gender pension gap is a complex issue tied to the labour market, the private pensions system and demographic differences, but one the government takes very seriously.

Addressing the gender pensions gap will only be possible through the collective effort of government, employers and industry.

The new State Pension was designed to correct some of the historic unfairness in the previous system, in particular for women. Our reforms are working, under the pre-2016 system women receive 85% of the amount received by men. This is currently 97% under the new State Pension.

Automatic enrolment (AE) has helped millions more women to save into a pension, with pension participation rates among eligible women in the private sector rising from 40% in 2012 to 86% in 2022.

The government is committed to build on this success and is making progress on implementing the measures as set out in the 2017 review of AE. The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 was introduced into Parliament with government support and provides the necessary powers.

Once implemented, the measures will disproportionately increase the pension saving of lower earners; a woman working part-time earning National Living Wage could see her pension almost double as a result when saving over her career.

Our labour market policies will also help. Working parents will soon be even better supported through the extension of free childcare announced in the Spring budget in 2023. DWP also announced generous additional financial help to encourage and support lead carers of children who are receiving Universal Credit to move into or progress in work.

By 2027-28, the Government will expect to be spending in excess of £8bn every year on free childcare hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.

And we are working with stakeholders across government to better understand the challenge of the gender pension gap. In June, DWP published an official measure of this wealth gap, which is currently 35% between men and women shortly before they retire. The wealth gap between men and women who are eligible for automatic enrolment is lower, at 32%.

The publication of an official annual measure will help us track the collective efforts of government, industry and employers to reduce the Gender Pension Gap.


Written Question
Abortion
Monday 19th February 2024

Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will have discussions with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on the adequacy of the range of stakeholders consulted for the guidance for healthcare staff on Involvement of the Police and External Agencies following Abortion, Pregnancy Loss and Unexpected Delivery it issued on 22 January 2024.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The recent guidance for healthcare staff on the involvement of the police and external agencies following abortion, pregnancy loss, and unexpected delivery, was produced independently by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The Department does not intend to review the stakeholder consultation related to this guidance. Abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance, and it is for Parliament to decide the circumstances under which abortions should take place. The Department’s focus is on patient safety and ensuring the law, as set out in the Abortion Act 1967, is applied to ensure women can access to safe, high-quality services.


Written Question
Workplace Pensions: Women
Tuesday 23rd January 2024

Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will take steps to ensure that women who are (a) self-employed and (b) earn less than £10,000 per year have access to workplace pensions.

Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Automatic enrolment (AE) has helped millions more women to save into a pension, with pension participation rates among eligible women in the private sector rising from 40% in 2012 to 87% in 2022.

The government is committed to build on the success of AE and is making progress on implementing the measures as set out in the 2017 review. The Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 was introduced into Parliament with government support and provides the necessary powers.

Once implemented, the measures will disproportionately increase the pension saving of lower earners; a woman working part-time earning National Living Wage could see her pension almost double as a result when saving over her career.

The AE framework cannot be straightforwardly extended to people who are self-employed, as there is no employer to enrol them into a scheme; select a scheme or make contributions.

The department is currently working with research partners to explore the feasibility of building and testing retirement savings solutions in digital platforms. This includes accountancy software and payment platforms, used by self-employed people to manage their money.


Written Question
Health Services
Thursday 18th January 2024

Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the number of cases of (a) preventable ill health and (b) premature death (i) in Leicester East constituency and (ii) nationally.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Local authorities and integrated care boards are responsible for improving the health of their local population and reducing health inequalities. In 2023/24, the total Public Health Grant to local authorities was £3.530 billion. Leicester – which includes the Leicester East constituency – received £29 million of the grant in 2023/24, which is almost £80 per head of population. Additional funding has been provided to improve cardiovascular outcomes in deprived communities, prevent drug and alcohol deaths, address need, and enhance recovery, and improve mental health for people in Leicester.

In January 2023 the Department announced its plan to publish the Major Conditions Strategy, focusing on six major groups of conditions (cancer, mental ill health, cardiovascular disease (including stroke and diabetes), dementia, chronic respiratory diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders) that account for approximately 60% of ill-health and premature death in England.

Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health, which is why Government has set out plans to introduce a Tobacco and Vapes Bill in parliament and announced new funding to support current smokers, a new incentives programme to support pregnant women to quit, deliver anti-smoking campaigns and crackdown on illicit tobacco and underage sale of tobacco and vapes.