Shadow Minister (Women and Equalities)
Conservative Peer
My Lords, I have little to add to the compelling case set out by the noble Baroness, Lady Bowles, and indeed by us all throughout the passage of the Bill. Our position remains unchanged: mandation has no place in the Bill and, if the Government are serious about securing its passage, they should remove it.
My Lords, the Opposition do not oppose this instrument. We broadly welcome the intent behind it. The chemicals regulatory framework is one of the more technically demanding legacies of our departure from the European Union, and the Government are right to bring it up to date to make it work for businesses in Great Britain and to reduce unnecessary burdens on those who must navigate it daily....
My Lords, on 16 April, the one-year anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court judgment confirming that sex in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex, the Conservative Party announced that Conservative-run councils will publish clear, legally compliant policies on single-sex spaces and services. I also confirm that Conservative-run councils will publish their own single-sex policies...
My Lords, one of the most worrying figures of all, in the most worrying of areas, is the increase of economic inactivity and people who are not required to look for work or who are not even searching for it. Given the impact on young people, which I know the Minister is very concerned about, why does he think that this figure and others are going up on this Government’s watch?
My Lords, since we have only one group of Motions today, I shall address our three key areas—scale and competition, public sector pensions and mandation—together. First, on scale and competition, I am grateful to the Minister for bringing forward these amendments in lieu. The government response does two important things. First, it places a clear duty on the Secretary of State, when...
My Lords, it is beyond doubt that mandation is, rightly, the most serious and contentious issue in the Bill. We have made our views on this very clear, as have many other noble Lords. The state should not be directing the investment of assets held by private funds. The power that the Government are setting out in the Bill directly undermines the principle of fiduciary duty on which the entire...
My Lords, I warmly acknowledge the collegiate and genuinely cross-party approach that has characterised the passage of the Bill through your Lordships’ House. I know I also speak for my noble friend Lord Younger of Leckie in expressing our sincere thanks to colleagues across the House for their constructive engagement. It has been a pleasure to work alongside them, and our collective...
My Lords, I was speaking to a young man just yesterday who has done everything he has been encouraged to do. He has studied well and he has worked and saved in order to put a deposit down on a house. He has been helped by people who have been fortunate enough to make some money to be able to help him. He had just moved into his first flat in London, and he could not be happier. Yesterday, he...
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of parents who were previously unemployed who have entered (1) part-time, and (2) full-time, employment as a result of Government-funded childcare.
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to publish the formal consultation on the proposed scale test for defined contribution pension schemes.
To ask His Majesty's Government what issues the consultation on the proposed scale test will consider, including whether it will examine (1) the definition of a Main Scale Default Arrangement, (2) how assets will be counted towards the threshold, and (3) the pathways available for schemes to reach scale.
To ask His Majesty's Government how long the consultation on the proposed scale test for defined contribution schemes will run; and when they expect the consultation process to conclude.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assets will count towards the £25 billion requirement for a Main Scale Default Arrangement under the Pension Schemes Bill; and whether assets held in default funds only, or across all scheme investments, will be included.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the £25 billion Main Scale Default Arrangement requirement will be assessed at the level of the scheme, individual default arrangements, or sections within a scheme.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of the childcare sector to deliver Government-funded childcare places; and what their current estimate is of any shortfall or surplus of places.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the feasibility study conducted by the University of Birmingham in 2023–24 on the possibility of developing prevalence estimates for female genital mutilation and forced marriage.
