1. What recent discussions she has had on increasing the number of successful prosecutions in cases of rape and sexual violence; and if she will make a statement. (900833)

The Home Office has chaired a meeting with the Director of Public Prosecutions and national policing leads to consider the fall-off in police referrals and prosecutions. That has led to a six-point plan to support successful outcomes for victims of rape and sexual violence.

The number of women reporting rapes has increased by 4,000, but the percentage of such cases being referred to the Crown Prosecution Service has continued to fall from 50% when Labour was in government to about 30%. The Minister says that he has a six-point plan and the Secretary of State told me on Monday that there had been round-table meetings, but when will we see action for women, or will we continue to see cuts in services for victims of rape and domestic violence?

We all take this issue very seriously in government. I am concerned about the fall in referrals and I think part of that is due to engagement between the police and the CPS, because the fall-off in referrals has not been matched to the same degree by a fall-off in convictions. This is nevertheless an important matter. I am taking a personal interest in it and I am also talking about it to all the chief constables, who are coming into the Home Office this afternoon.

What percentage of convicted rapists serve their time in prison in full before they are released?

I cannot give a specific answer, but we obviously do not release anyone who is a danger to the public. That remains our position.

According to freedom of information requests compiled by Labour, there has been a 33.5% drop in the number of rape cases referred to the CPS for prosecution since 2010. That figure was rising under the previous Government. Given that police budgets have been cut by 20% over the same period, does the Minister accept that the hollowing out of police services has led to more perpetrators of rape and sexual violence getting away with it? What is he going to do about that disgraceful situation, which will inevitably lead to more perpetrators committing rapes, as they feel emboldened to do so with impunity?

I welcome the hon. Lady to the Front Bench, as I understand that this is her first outing.

I do not believe that the issue of funding for the police is in any way connected with this matter, because otherwise—[Interruption.] Otherwise, we would have seen a drop in the number of investigations of murder, homicide or complex fraud, and we are not seeing that. Other factors are at play, I think, including the number of historic allegations that are quite rightly coming forward and the fact that there is more encouragement of people to come forward—[Interruption.] I know that this is the hon. Lady’s first outing, but if she let me answer the question rather than chuntering it would be helpful. This is a serious issue and I want to try to address it properly.

We are taking action on this matter. The figures from the Office for National Statistics show a 9% increase in the number of sexual offences being reported and a 9% increase in the number of rapes recorded by the police in the year to June 2013 compared with the previous year. The number of convictions has changed only marginally from earlier years, because prosecution cases that will not be successful are weeded out at an earlier stage. I have already said that we are concerned about this matter. I want to look into the precise reason referrals have gone down, and it is my intention to ensure that we get as many successful prosecutions as possible.

Order. We all enjoy hearing the Minister, but on the whole the abridged rather than the “War and Peace” version is to be preferred, so we will leave it there.

2. What progress has been made on increasing the number of women on boards of FTSE 100 companies. (900834)

The Government support Lord Davies’s voluntary business-led strategy for increasing the number of women in UK boardrooms. Good progress is being made: women now account for 19% of board members in our FTSE 100 companies, up from 12.5% in February 2011.

I thank the Minister for that answer. Is she aware of the importance of the so-called mumpreneurs, who work from home and contribute approximately £7 billion a year to our economy? Will she join me in congratulating those inspirational women and pledge to support them?

I absolutely join my hon. Friend in congratulating mumpreneurs and applauding their work. I know that she is a small business woman and knows a great deal about the sector. The figures speak for themselves: in the last quarter we saw a further 27,000 women taking up entrepreneurial roles in our economy, making 1.2 million in total. That is real progress indeed.

There is no board in this country more high-profile than the Cabinet, so what message is being sent to business when only four out of 23 of its members are women?

I take this opportunity to welcome the hon. Lady to her first questions on the Front Bench. I am sure that she will make a good contribution to all our Question Times. She is right that the Government have a huge role to play in setting an example. In my Department we have a significant majority of women in leadership roles. We want to ensure that in future we have even more women not only in Parliament and as Ministers, but in the Cabinet—something on which the Prime Minister has made his thoughts very clear.

3. What steps she is taking to increase awareness of and prevent violence against women and girls. (900836)

With permission, Mr Speaker, I will answer Questions 3 and 4 together.

I fear that the Minister cannot, because Question 4 has been withdrawn. He can confine himself to Question 3, which should facilitate a shorter answer, for which we are grateful.

The answer is the same either way, Mr Speaker.

The coalition Government’s action plan to end violence against women and girls sets out a number of commitments to raise awareness and prevent violence against women and girls. We have extended the definition of domestic abuse to include 16 and 17-year-olds, and our national campaigns on teenage rape and relationship abuse challenge the attitudes underpinning violence against girls.

With research telling us that one in three young girls in this country report experiencing sexual harassment in school, why did every single Member on the Government Front Bench vote against making sex and relationships education compulsory for both boys and girls in all schools in Britain?

May I first congratulate the hon. Lady on her involvement in the banknote campaign and say how sorry I was to hear about the abuse she received as a consequence?

The governing bodies of all maintained schools must have an up-to-date sex and relationships education policy. The guidance makes it clear that all young people should understand how to avoid exploitation and abuse and how the law applies to relationships. In addition, we have two hard-hitting campaigns, on teenage relationship abuse and teenage rape prevention, which have been very successful, as the number of website hits shows.

Essex has one of the highest incidences of domestic violence in the country, and two tragic murders have occurred in Harlow as a result of domestic violence. What help can the Government give to education and local charities to reduce domestic violence?

I have already mentioned the websites we have introduced, which have had over 1 million hits since 2010. We are also taking clear action on online abuse and have published documents this year taking forward our strategy. I intend to make it a high priority during my time in office.

Despite the commitment that the Prime Minister made in this House that police would be able to retain the DNA of individuals arrested but not charged with rape, we now know that over the summer the police have had to destroy the DNA records of thousands of suspected sex offenders before the appeals process is introduced at the beginning of next month. Has not that shocking incompetence by the Government put more women and girls at risk?

I am not sure that I accept the version of events that has been given. The hon. Lady will of course understand, as will the whole House, that there is a balance to be struck between the unnecessary retention of DNA in terms of civil liberties and the need to prevent serious crime. Striking that balance is something that the Government are very keen to get right.

Is it the Government’s view that taking steps to increase awareness of and prevent violence against women and girls is more important than increasing awareness of and preventing violence against men and boys, or is it the Government’s view that it is equally important to increase awareness of and prevent violence against all of them?

I certainly agree that it is important to act on violence against any individual. Of course, it is predominantly against women and girls and vulnerable adults, and they must come first in our consideration, but it is also true that the £40 million recently allocated to deal with these matters includes a strand to deal with violence against men and boys.

5. What steps she is taking to support senior women in business. (900838)

Under this Government, more women are in work than ever before, and we are determined to do more. My right hon. Friend the Minister for Women and Equalities has already mentioned the excellent work to increase the number of women on boards. We have also set up the Think, Act, Report initiative promoting gender equality in the workplace, and 131 companies have signed up, covering almost 2 million employees.

I understand what the Minister says, but we have some of the highest levels of female unemployment in a generation. Does she agree that mothers of school-age children need a guarantee of stable, wraparound care if they are to be able to pursue careers in business or elsewhere? If she does, will she back Labour’s primary child care guarantee and explain why her Government scrapped the previous Labour Government’s Extended Schools programme, which provided urgent and necessary breakfast clubs and after-school clubs to help parents, particularly mothers?

I certainly agree that child care is an absolutely key element for many women making their way in business and, indeed, in other careers, but I do not agree that making an uncosted proposal that all schools should suddenly provide such wraparound child care without providing the means to do it is a sensible way forward. Instead, the Government are making it easier for childminders to set up in business, breaking down the barriers, and introducing £1,200 per child per year of tax reliefs on the money that parents spend on child care.

I call Dr Thérèse Coffey.

Question 7, Mr Speaker.

We are on Question 5. Does the hon. Lady wish to intervene on that?

No.

Fair enough.

Figures from Chwarae Teg indicate that 7% of employed women in Wales are in senior management compared with 11% of men. What discussions has the Minister had with the Welsh Government about action to close that gap?

Lots of discussions go on in government among officials on these issues, but I have not personally had any such discussions with Welsh Ministers. However, Governments have a role to play in leading by example with the civil service, in trying to make it easier for women to achieve parity with men on pay and progression, and in working with businesses to make the business case that diverse teams achieve better results.

6. What steps she is taking to improve the position of disabled people in the workplace. (900839)

The Government have a number of programmes in place to enable disabled people and people with health conditions to get into and remain in work. We intend to publish proposals for those programmes in our employment strategy by the end of the year.

One of those programmes is the Access to Work scheme, but since the election the number of disabled people it supports has dropped by over 15%—that is about 6,000 people. Will the Minister commit himself to taking steps to ensure that that worrying trend is reversed?

I will commit myself to giving everybody who wants to get into work the opportunity to do so, whether they are disabled or have health difficulties or not, and to keep their jobs and continue in employment. I will look carefully at the figures. The Access to Work scheme is working very well, but nothing is perfect.

Only 3% of disabled people in the employment and support allowance group in the Work programme found a job after two years. Given the Government’s failure to help long-term disabled people into work, is it not a bit rich for Tory MPs to be lecturing disabled people to get a job?

Nobody is lecturing anybody apart from Labour Members who have selective memory loss about the past 13 years. We will do everything we can. I am sure that the previous Administration did, but they did not do it very well.

7. What steps she is taking to increase the representation of women on the boards of public bodies. (900840)

The Government have an ambitious aim that 50% of new public appointees should be women by the end of this Parliament. We are modernising recruitment practices and this approach is working. Our figures show that 37% of public appointments during 2012-13were women.

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Will she look into ensuring that head-hunters who are employed by various Departments across Government are signed up to the voluntary code of conduct?

My hon. Friend raises a very good point. The Government are working with 52 different firms that have signed up to the voluntary code of conduct. Indeed, my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary has appointed an experienced diversity champion, Charlotte Sweeney, to review the effectiveness of the code and report back to him in the new year. My hon. Friend is right to raise the issue of Departments that employ head-hunting firms for public appointments, but it is made absolutely clear that one of the key attributes that they need to look for is diversity.

Will the Minister confirm whether Labour’s target that 50% of new appointments should be women has continued, and whether the Government have removed the targets to increase the number of ethnic minorities and people with disabilities in public appointments?

It is very important that we address diversity in all its forms. Sadly, the previous Government did not achieve the aim of women comprising 50% of all new appointments. We are working towards achieving that by the end of this Parliament, but I think we all agree that we need to do more. The hon. Lady is absolutely right to say that other areas of diversity, including background, ethnicity and disability—a whole range of different characteristics—are also important. To get truly high-functioning teams, we need diversity in all its forms.

8. What recent assessment she has made of the number of cases of discrimination at work on the grounds of pregnancy. (900841)

Discrimination against a woman because of pregnancy is totally unacceptable, rightly illegal and bad business sense.

The Equal Opportunities Commission’s 2005 report showed that, unfortunately, 30,000 women lost their jobs as a result of their pregnancy. As I outlined during the Children and Families Bill debates, we are now considering how we could best obtain a more up-to-date picture of the current extent of this problem.

I thank the Minister for her forthright answer. Research by the law firm Slater & Gordon has found that only 3% of women who believe that they suffered discrimination because of being pregnant had actually sought legal advice. Does the Minister accept that charging women £1,200 to take a case to an employment tribunal will make it even less likely that such discrimination will be challenged?

I understand the hon. Lady’s concern and I think we should all be worried about the issue, but I do not think it helps to suggest that any woman who wants to take a case will be charged £1,200. That figure is only for cases that reach a hearing, which are a small proportion of the overall number. It costs much less—only £250—to lodge a case in the first place. There is also a significant fee remission and costs will often be awarded if there are problems. It is important that we do not scare off people from making claims, because we want to make sure that we crack down on rogue employers who discriminate against pregnant women.