Baroness Featherstone: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many schools are now using personal, social, health and economic education classes to inform their pupils on female genital mutilation.
Baroness Featherstone: I thank the Minister for that Answer, but in a way she makes my case for me, because we have a safeguarding duty to the 60,000 girls who are at risk. If we do not inform them about the risks of FGM—what to look for and who to go to—then I believe we are derelict in our duty. Does the Minister agree with me that one of the best ways to protect girls is to make teaching on FGM mandatory,...
Baroness Featherstone: My Lords, I thank all the speakers in this debate. It has been very instructive and informative, and so many of the contributions were knowledgeable. I thank the Minister for the government response. My purpose in tabling this Motion to Annul was really to persuade the Government to go back and work again with the industry. It is exactly that rate and degree of change that we are discussing....
Baroness Featherstone: My Lords, this is an important debate, and it is with regret that I felt that I must table this fatal Motion, as I am aware of the significance of this action, but regard the matter as so serious as to merit such a Motion. The order makes policy changes which will have far-reaching and detrimental effects—effects which will not only put our renewables industries in serious jeopardy but...
Baroness Featherstone: My Lords, as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded, CCS is a hugely important part of tackling climate change, particularly with regard to cost-effectiveness. Without the crucial £1 billion investment in the cancelled CCS project—as the Government themselves phrased it just a year ago—how else are binding carbon targets to be met? I urge the Government to...
Baroness Featherstone: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money they have spent in this Parliamentary Session on support for fracking activities.
Baroness Featherstone: My Lords, I also pay tribute to Lord Ezra. On 1 April 2018, the regulations on energy efficiency in the private rented sector, which is the worst-offending sector, will come into being. That will mean that it will become illegal for a landlord to let a property if it does not meet the E grade standard. Can the Minister update the House on what progress he has made on working with landlords...
Baroness Featherstone: My Lords, what evidence-based case is there for applying far less stringent environmental controls and protections to coal-bed methane than to hydraulic fracturing?
Baroness Featherstone: (Maiden Speech) My Lords, I am so very honoured to be here and to have a continuing platform from which to pursue the political passions of my life. But first I thank noble Lords across the House for the warmest of welcomes. I have been utterly charmed and beguiled by the doorkeepers, Black Rod’s Office and the police, all of whom I thank for their kindness and courtesy, and not infrequent...
Lynne Featherstone: Data specifically on the Gosport and Fareham area is not available as the Crime Survey for England and Wales does not allow sufficiently robust estimates to be made for smaller geographic areas. For England and Wales as a whole, the 2013/14 Crime Survey for England and Wales showed that the proportion of people aged 16 to 59 who said they had taken mephedrone in the last year was 0.6 per...
Lynne Featherstone: Recommendation 11 of the HMIC report relates to a multi-agency inspection on domestic abuse. The Home Secretary wrote to Ministerial colleagues seeking support to multi-agency inspections in January. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary will continue to inspect the police response to domestic abuse as part of their annual all-force PEEL (Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and...
Lynne Featherstone: The National Group on Sexual Violence Against Children and Vulnerable People has held 19 meetings since it was formed in April 2013. The group met every four weeks until January 2014, while it developed its programme of work. Since then, meetings have focused on monitoring delivery of the programme, and have been held every six to eight weeks. The Home Office-led group, which I chair as...
Lynne Featherstone: The National Centre for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) primarily receives Government funding through the Department for Business Innovation and Skills via the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The NC3Rs is currently undergoing its quinquennial review to which the Home Office provided...
Lynne Featherstone: It is not possible to calculate the figures requested. Figures on prosecutions are not directly comparable with the recorded crime figures as cases tried at court may have occurred in a different time period to when the police recorded the crime. Furthermore, Ministry of Justice figures are based on the number of defendants proceeded against, while police recorded crime data are based onthe...
Lynne Featherstone: All forms of hate crime are deplorable and it’s important that victims are protected and have the confidence to come forward. The Government is driving forward work to tackle hostility and hate crime. We have toughened up sentencing and are working closely with the police and other agencies to increase reporting, improve support and prevent these terrible crimes happening in the first...
Lynne Featherstone: Domestic abuse is an appalling crime, and this Government are determined that the police response is the best it can be. The Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary to review the response to domestic abuse across police forces in England and Wales. We are driving change through a national oversight group. All 43 forces have action plans on domestic abuse. In...
Lynne Featherstone: I totally refute the hon. Gentleman’s assertions. This Government have a record to be proud of in the work we have done on domestic abuse, not just the ring-fencing of stable funding of £40 million but the introduction of new laws, protection orders, and measures on stalking abuses. We have done more in the five years we have been here than the Labour Government before us did in all their...
Lynne Featherstone: I reiterate that the £2 billion annual cost of legal aid, combined with the economic circumstances left by Labour, meant that hard choices had to be made. Labour was also committed to reducing legal aid. We have retained legal aid in key areas impacting on women, particularly with regard to injunctions to protect victims from domestic abuse and in private family law cases where domestic...
