Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an estimate of the number of hours that (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department have spent in discussions with representatives of the Scottish government on the potential cross-border issues relating to the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill in the last 12 months.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
UK Government officials have had regular scheduled meetings with Scottish Government counterparts since the Gender Recognition Reform Bill’s introduction in the Scottish Parliament. Consideration of potential cross-border issues formed a key part of this engagement.
Since taking up her role as Minister for Women and Equalities on 25 October 2022, the Minister also engaged directly with her Scottish Government counterpart, both in person and through correspondence.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to implement the Women's Health Strategy on tackling health inequalities and ensuring equitable access to and experience of services for women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
A priority running through the Women’s Health Strategy for England is ensuring that all women have equitable access to and experience of services and disparities in health outcomes between men and women and groups of women are reduced. Last year we appointed Professor Dame Lesley Regan as the Women’s Health Ambassador for England to ensure women that experience health disparities are heard. The Department will update Parliament on the implementation of the Women’s Health Strategy annually.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is focused on improving the nation’s health and tackling health disparities. The health levelling up mission, stated in the Levelling Up White Paper, to improve healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035 and narrow the gap by 2030 remains Government policy. A significant proportion of ill health is preventable. By focusing on the major conditions that contribute to early death and reduce years of good health, as well as the behaviours that drive those conditions like smoking, poor diet and alcohol consumption, which disproportionately impact some places and communities, we will make progress on reducing health disparities and improve the health of women.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle health inequalities affecting women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
A priority running through the Women’s Health Strategy for England is ensuring that all women have equitable access to and experience of services and disparities in health outcomes between men and women and groups of women are reduced. Last year we appointed Professor Dame Lesley Regan as the Women’s Health Ambassador for England to ensure women that experience health disparities are heard. The Department will update Parliament on the implementation of the Women’s Health Strategy annually.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is focused on improving the nation’s health and tackling health disparities. The health levelling up mission, stated in the Levelling Up White Paper, to improve healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035 and narrow the gap by 2030 remains Government policy. A significant proportion of ill health is preventable. By focusing on the major conditions that contribute to early death and reduce years of good health, as well as the behaviours that drive those conditions like smoking, poor diet and alcohol consumption, which disproportionately impact some places and communities, we will make progress on reducing health disparities and improve the health of women.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce health inequalities between men and women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
A priority running through the Women’s Health Strategy for England is ensuring that all women have equitable access to and experience of services and disparities in health outcomes between men and women and groups of women are reduced. Last year we appointed Professor Dame Lesley Regan as the Women’s Health Ambassador for England to ensure women that experience health disparities are heard. The Department will update Parliament on the implementation of the Women’s Health Strategy annually.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is focused on improving the nation’s health and tackling health disparities. The health levelling up mission, stated in the Levelling Up White Paper, to improve healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035 and narrow the gap by 2030 remains Government policy. A significant proportion of ill health is preventable. By focusing on the major conditions that contribute to early death and reduce years of good health, as well as the behaviours that drive those conditions like smoking, poor diet and alcohol consumption, which disproportionately impact some places and communities, we will make progress on reducing health disparities and improve the health of women.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to ensure that all women and young people have access to the telemedical pathway for early medical abortion.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In March 2022, Parliament voted to amend the Abortion Act 1967 to allow women in England and Wales to take one or both pills for early medical abortion at home. The Abortion Act does not set a legal age limit for access to early medical abortion via the telemedicine pathway. The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and abortion providers to ensure that children and young people have timely access to all abortion services, including telemedicine abortion services.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of whether parliamentary elections that took place in Bahrain on 12 November 2022 were free, fair and democratic.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The parliamentary elections which took place in Bahrain on 12 and 19 November were well organised and peaceful and were monitored by local NGOs and civil society groups. Bahrainis turned out in significant numbers to elect members of the next parliament from a cross-section of the community, including 8 women. The election of Nuwab members is an important democratic element of Bahrain's political system.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to Girliguiding's Girls' Attitudes Survey 2022, what steps she with Cabinet colleagues to tackle sexism (a) online and (b) in the workplace.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Girlguiding Girls' Attitudes Survey provides valuable data each year which helps the Government's policy development. We share the concerns about harassment and sexism highlighted in this survey and are taking action to protect women and girls, online, in communities and in the workplace.
Strong laws protecting people against workplace harassment and discrimination, including in relation to sex, are set out in the Equality Act 2010. In addition, the Government is supporting the protection from workplace harassment Bill introduced by the Hon. Member for Bath. This Bill will amend the Equality Act 2010 to strengthen legal protections for employees against workplace harassment, including sexual harassment and harassment by third-parties, such as customers and clients.
We will also bring the Online Safety Bill back to Parliament as soon as possible, which will introduce new protections for women and girls online. Under the Bill all services will need to proactively remove and prevent users from being exposed to priority illegal content. This includes content that particularly affects women and girls, such as illegal content relating to sexual images – for example, revenge and extreme pornography, harassment and cyberstalking. Women and girls will also be better able to report abuse and should expect to receive an appropriate response from the platform.
In addition, we are putting a range of measures in place to support children and young people as part of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan. This includes providing £3 million to better understand what works to prevent violence against women and girls. We are investing in high quality, evidence-informed prevention projects, including in schools, to educate and inform children and young people about violence against women and girls, healthy relationships, consent and the consequences of abuse.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help support the (a) well-being and (b) safety of girls and young women (i) online and (ii) in communities.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Girlguiding Girls' Attitudes Survey provides valuable data each year which helps the Government's policy development. We share the concerns about harassment and sexism highlighted in this survey and are taking action to protect women and girls, online, in communities and in the workplace.
Strong laws protecting people against workplace harassment and discrimination, including in relation to sex, are set out in the Equality Act 2010. In addition, the Government is supporting the protection from workplace harassment Bill introduced by the Hon. Member for Bath. This Bill will amend the Equality Act 2010 to strengthen legal protections for employees against workplace harassment, including sexual harassment and harassment by third-parties, such as customers and clients.
We will also bring the Online Safety Bill back to Parliament as soon as possible, which will introduce new protections for women and girls online. Under the Bill all services will need to proactively remove and prevent users from being exposed to priority illegal content. This includes content that particularly affects women and girls, such as illegal content relating to sexual images – for example, revenge and extreme pornography, harassment and cyberstalking. Women and girls will also be better able to report abuse and should expect to receive an appropriate response from the platform.
In addition, we are putting a range of measures in place to support children and young people as part of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan. This includes providing £3 million to better understand what works to prevent violence against women and girls. We are investing in high quality, evidence-informed prevention projects, including in schools, to educate and inform children and young people about violence against women and girls, healthy relationships, consent and the consequences of abuse.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has made an assessment of the findings of the 14th annual Girls' Attitudes Survey published by GirlGuiding in October 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Girlguiding Girls' Attitudes Survey provides valuable data each year which helps the Government's policy development. We share the concerns about harassment and sexism highlighted in this survey and are taking action to protect women and girls, online, in communities and in the workplace.
Strong laws protecting people against workplace harassment and discrimination, including in relation to sex, are set out in the Equality Act 2010. In addition, the Government is supporting the protection from workplace harassment Bill introduced by the Hon. Member for Bath. This Bill will amend the Equality Act 2010 to strengthen legal protections for employees against workplace harassment, including sexual harassment and harassment by third-parties, such as customers and clients.
We will also bring the Online Safety Bill back to Parliament as soon as possible, which will introduce new protections for women and girls online. Under the Bill all services will need to proactively remove and prevent users from being exposed to priority illegal content. This includes content that particularly affects women and girls, such as illegal content relating to sexual images – for example, revenge and extreme pornography, harassment and cyberstalking. Women and girls will also be better able to report abuse and should expect to receive an appropriate response from the platform.
In addition, we are putting a range of measures in place to support children and young people as part of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan. This includes providing £3 million to better understand what works to prevent violence against women and girls. We are investing in high quality, evidence-informed prevention projects, including in schools, to educate and inform children and young people about violence against women and girls, healthy relationships, consent and the consequences of abuse.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the context of the International Safe Abortion Day 2022 which took place on 28 September 2022, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure young people can access early medical abortion via the telemedicine pathway; and what recent assessment she has made of the extent to which young people are supported to consent, if they have capacity to do so, to early medical abortion via the telemedecine pathway.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In March 2022, Parliament voted in favour of making the temporary approval allowing home-use of both pills for early medical abortions a permanent measure for women and girls in England and Wales. The Abortion Act 1967 does not set a legal age limit for access to early medical abortion via the telemedicine pathway. The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and abortion providers to ensure that children and young people have timely access to all abortion services, including telemedicine abortion services.
While no recent assessment has been made, the Department commissioned the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to develop independent safeguarding guidance for children and young people under 18 years old accessing early medical abortion services, which was published in August 2022. The guidance states that young people have an evolving capacity to make decisions about their lives and to consent to medical treatment and recommends that early medical abortion services assess whether a young person is able to consent using national frameworks and the services’ own internal guidance.