Wednesday Volume 684 25 November 2020 No. 141 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Wednesday 25 November 2020 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2020 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 805 25 NOVEMBER 2020 806 those working in shut-down sectors such as retail and House of Commons hospitality,the workforces in which are disproportionately young, female and from a black, Asian or minority Wednesday 25 November 2020 ethnic background. We have taken action to ensure that disabled people have access to disability benefits, financial support and employment support, such as the Work The House met at half-past Eleven o’clock and Health programme, and we have extended the self-employment income support scheme, in which some ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented. PRAYERS Rebecca Long Bailey [V]: Analysis of the labour force [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] survey by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that the Virtual participation in proceedings commenced (Order, shut-down sectors worst affected by the pandemic have 4 June). a higher than average proportion of workers who are women, who are disabled and who are from BAME [NB: [V] denotes a Member participating virtually.] backgrounds. In Salford, where this economic picture is stark, the number of people claiming universal credit Speaker’s Statement has more than doubled since January. Will the Minister, first, commit to demanding that the Chancellor strengthens 11.33 am support to those struggling, as advised by the Social Mr Speaker: I remind colleagues that a deferred Division Security Advisory Committee, such as protecting the will take place today. Members should be aware that the £20 universal credit uplift and extending it to people on timings have reverted to being between 11.30 am and legacy benefits? Secondly,will she request bespoke financial 2 pm, though deferred Divisions will continue to take support packages for the worst hit sectors? place in the Members’ Library. Members will cast their votes by placing a completed Division slip in one of the Kemi Badenoch: The hon. Lady will be aware that the ballot boxes provided. If a Member has a proxy vote in Chancellor will be announcing his spending review this operation, they must not vote in person in the deferred afternoon, and I think she will find that many of the Division. The nominated proxy should vote on their questions she is asking will be answered at that point. behalf. I remind colleagues of the importance of social With respect to the sectors that have been shut down, as distancing during the deferred Division and ask them to I said in my first answer, we recognise that those people pick up a Division slip from the Vote Office and fill it in who are on low incomes have been disproportionately before they reach the Library, if possible. The result will affected, and those groups are the ones who have most be announced in the Chamber at a convenient moment benefited from the interventions that the Treasury has after the Division is over. put in place. Zarah Sultana: Nearly one in seven people in Coventry are now on universal credit. That is a 97% increase since Oral Answers to Questions March. Low earnings, higher rates of poverty and greater need mean that women, BAME communities and disabled people rely more on UC and the social security system. Fixing it, from scrapping the two-child limit and benefit WOMEN AND EQUALITIES cap to an uplift in payments, is a question of gender, racial and disability justice. What has the Minister done to push for these measures in today’s spending review, The Minister for Women and Equalities was asked— including keeping the £20 UC uplift from April 2021 Covid-19: Economic Effect and extending it to jobseeker’s allowance and employment support allowance? Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford and Eccles) (Lab): What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Kemi Badenoch: I am afraid that, as I said in my earlier Exchequer on the economic effect of the covid-19 outbreak answer, questions about the spending review need to be on (a) women, (b) disabled people and (c) Black, Asian asked to during the spending review, which will take and minority ethnic people. [909384] place later this afternoon. Zarah Sultana (Coventry South) (Lab): What discussions Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con) she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on [V]: We know that we went into the pandemic with the economic effect of the covid-19 outbreak on (a) women, female employment at a record level and with the disability (b) disabled people and (c) Black, Asian and minority employment gap shrinking. Will my hon. Friend update ethnic people. [909387] the House on the work that she is undertaking with the Department for Work and Pensions to make sure that The Minister for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch): The women, disabled people and BAME people are not pandemic has affected all communities in our country. disadvantaged when we come out of the pandemic? This Government have done their utmost to protect lives and livelihoods. We have targeted economic support Kemi Badenoch: As we discussed at the Women and at those who need it most. For example, rolling out Equalities Committee a few weeks ago, this is something unprecedented levels of economic support worth over that the Government Equalities Office is very much £200 billion has provided a much needed lifeline for alive to. I am working with equalities Ministers across 807 Oral Answers 25 NOVEMBER 2020 Oral Answers 808 various Departments to see how the interventions that The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport we are making are not going to impact on those groups (Rachel Maclean): The rail to refuge scheme, as of who are most vulnerable, and I will continue to update 15 November 2020, has assisted 626 adults and 210 children her on that work. in crisis. Mr Speaker: I welcome Charlotte Nichols to her first Kerry McCarthy: I thank the Minister for her response. outing at the Dispatch Box. She will know that domestic abuse services have, sadly, seen a real surge in demand during the lockdown. Rail Charlotte Nichols (Warrington North) (Lab): Thank to refuge schemes, including the GWR scheme that you, Mr Speaker. serves my constituency, have helped more than 800 people to flee domestic abuse through the use of a free rail There are over 600,000 people in work who are clinically ticket. Can the Minister commit to funding these schemes extremely vulnerable. Current shielding guidance states in the future, because they are really important to people that if they cannot work from home, they should not go who need to get away? to their usual place of work, but this does not entitle them to be furloughed. This means that many disabled Rachel Maclean: I thank the hon. Lady very much for people have had to ask their employer to put them on her support for this scheme. She will know that over furlough in order to receive financial support. Where 63% of victims of domestic abuse accessing the support employers have refused to do so, an estimated 22% of have stated that they would not have been able to access disabled employees have had to choose between their a journey at all if the scheme had not been in place. I am lives and their livelihoods. Does the Minister think that pleased that this vital scheme is extended until next this is fair? March, and we keep all these schemes under review all the time. Kemi Badenoch: As the hon. Lady will know, the pandemic has affected many different groups in very Workplace Discrimination: Pregnant Women bad ways, and we have done everything we can to support and New Mothers them. Specifically on disabled people, we have done quite a lot in looking at the benefits that they have and Mr Speaker: We are now going back to Basingstoke, providing support in many other ways, including to Maria Miller with her supplementary question. employment support. These are the ways that we are protecting those people who are being disproportionately Mrs Miller [V]: In Germany, women who are pregnant impacted. I am sure that my hon. Friend the Minister or on maternity leave cannot be made redundant, to avoid for Disabled People, Health and Work, who is also in any hidden discrimination. With one in four women the House today, is going to be answering more questions who are pregnant during the pandemic experiencing on our disabled strategy, and perhaps he will be able to discrimination here at home, is it not time for the UK to provide more information specifically from a Department look carefully at adopting a similar approach to that taken for Work and Pensions perspective. in Germany? Workplace Discrimination: Pregnant Women Paul Scully: I thank my right hon. Friend for pushing and New Mothers her private Member’s Bill and for her concern in this area. I was pleased to meet her. Germany has a far more Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con): With reference prescriptive labour market. We support the intention to the Government-commissioned research on pregnancy behind her Bill but, having undertaken a full consultation and maternity-related discrimination and disadvantage, in 2019, we have decided on a different approach, working published in 2015, what progress the Government have with the grain of our current regime and extending made in tackling unlawful discrimination against pregnant the existing protection afforded to a new mother on women and new mothers in the workplace.