Women and Equality

The Minister for Women and Equality was asked—

Imprisonment

Mrs. Madeleine Moon (Bridgend) (Lab)
21. What recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on alternatives to imprisonment for women.

The Minister for Equality (Barbara Follett)
I have had many discussions with ministerial colleagues on this subject. As my hon. Friend knows, last week the Government published our response to Baroness Corston’s review, in which we agreed to promote the effective use of community orders and set up projects, which will report next April, to look at alternatives to custody and review the future of the women’s prison estate.

Mrs. Moon
In a report for the Prison Reform Trust, the New Economics Foundation estimated that savings of £18 million could be made if community-based sentences were available for the 2,000 non-violent women offenders who have been imprisoned. Will my hon. Friend hold cross-Government discussions so that we can submit to the review next year a full understanding of the costs and the effect on women and their children? We need to take into account the costs of health, housing, benefits and education, and care costs for children, to show the global cost of imprisoning non-violent women.

Barbara Follett
I appreciate my hon. Friend’s concern about the issue and I am aware of her work for a women’s prison in Wales, where there is none. It is one of the issues addressed in Baroness Corston’s review, and it is why the National Offender Management Service put in a bid to set up Turnaround—the demonstrator project for women offenders in Wales. I shall do all I can to ensure that the costs of imprisoning non-violent women for short periods are made as transparent as possible.

Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)
Does the Minister agree that the courts should treat men and women equally when sentencing them, and that the best alternative to sending women to prison is for them not to commit crime in the first place?

Barbara Follett
Historically, men and women have not been treated as equals. At present, women make up 6 per cent. of the total prison population and there are not enough appropriate women’s prisons. I value Baroness Corston’s report, because it could lead us to a new way of treating women offenders.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry (Portsmouth, North) (Lab/Co-op)
When women are given a custodial sentence, often it is not just the women who are punished but their children, too. Children often end up in care, and as a disproportionate number of women in the prison system have been through the care system themselves we could be perpetuating a cycle. We must look at non-custodial sentences for non-persistent, non-violent women offenders to keep families together and maintain their stability.

Barbara Follett
I agree. At present, 8,000 children a year have their living arrangements disrupted by their mother’s imprisonment, even if it is only a short period. That is why Baroness Corston’s review recommended the use of intensive community sentences, and I am committed to them.

Women (Political Life)

Ms Katy Clark (North Ayrshire and Arran) (Lab)
22. What steps the Government are taking to increase the representation of women in political life.

The Minister for Women and Equality (Ms Harriet Harman)
The Government are committed to ensuring that our democracy is representative, and that means in local councils, the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament, the European Parliament and the House. The most effective policy for increasing women’s representation has been making it lawful to have women-only shortlists for selection.

Ms Clark 
My right hon. and learned Friend will be well aware that considerable strides have been made on this side of the House in increasing the representation of women in this place. However, unfortunately, large parts of Britain have still never had a woman representing them directly in this place, in a devolved Assembly or at council level. I should be grateful for her thoughts on what further can be done by Government and Parliament to ensure that women are better represented.

Ms Harman
We are committed to extending the legal provision that allows political parties, if they so choose, to increase women’s representation in our democracy by allowing all-women shortlists. When I was first in the House of Commons, there were only 10 Labour women Members of Parliament, but because we used all-women shortlists we now have 96 strong Labour women Members of Parliament, who speak up for women in this country and champion issues such as child care and tackling domestic violence. The Conservative party, which eschews all-women shortlists, has increased its number of women Members of Parliament from 13 when I was first elected to the sum total of 17 now. I want to see more women Members on both sides of the House, but until the Conservatives have all-women shortlists, they will be doomed to fail.

Mr. Mark Harper (Forest of Dean) (Con)
Perhaps the right hon. and learned Lady would like to congratulate the council in my constituency. After the recent local elections and a stunning Tory victory, nearly half the Conservative councillors are women—without using all-women shortlists—a woman leads the council and there is an excellent female chairman. Will the right hon. and learned Lady congratulate the Conservatives in Forest of Dean on that excellent performance?

Ms Harman
I do want to see more women in local government. I warmly support all the women in local government, who work not only in the economy and public services and among their families, but in the community as local representatives.

Mr. Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)
Congratulate them.

Ms Harman
I will congratulate them. My hon. Friend the Minister for Equality and I are concerned to ensure the proper representation of women of black and Asian ethnic origin. Black and Asian women are chronically under-represented. There are something like 176 women black and Asian councillors in the whole of England and Wales; if black and Asian communities were properly represented, there would be nearer 1,000. We have to ensure that there is proper gender representation in our councils, in Parliament and in the devolved Assemblies, but we also have to ensure diverse ethnic representation, so that this House reflects the communities that we seek to represent.

Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)
My right hon. and learned Friend will be aware that next year is the 90th anniversary of women’s suffrage, which you, Mr. Speaker, are generously hosting a reception to mark. Will she publish proposals for using the 90th anniversary to highlight the contribution that women have made to public life and the initiatives that she will take to increase the number of women in public life?

Ms Harman
I welcome my hon. Friend’s suggestion and I will do exactly that. It is not just the numbers that are important. The women Members of Parliament who were elected in 1997, and also in 2001 and 2005, have made a difference to the political agenda discussed in the House. I can remember when there was virtually no discussion of maternity leave, domestic violence, or support for families caring for older relatives. Those things are particular preoccupations of women and their families. Women’s representation has meant that people’s lives are reflected much more accurately in the House of Commons.

Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD)
Some women are put off becoming MPs because they think that the House has a rather sexist, male-dominated culture, and that the job is all about making speeches and engaging in aggressive debate, although that is actually a small part of the job. Does the Minister agree that, although all parties must continue their own efforts to get more women elected, there is also a need for a cross-party initiative to communicate better the fact that elected politics can be incredibly enjoyable and rewarding, and to change some of those negative perceptions?

Ms Harman
I think the important thing is to say to women and men that they should recognise that it is a great honour and privilege to be a Member of Parliament, to represent a constituency and to work for progressive change. It is important that the House should be a team of women and men working together, as the Government are.

Rape

Mrs. Sharon Hodgson (Gateshead, East and Washington, West) (Lab)
23. What recent discussions she has had with the Solicitor-General on the Government’s consultation “Convicting Rapists and Protecting Women”.

The Minister for Equality (Barbara Follett)
I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues and the Solicitor-General on the subject. As my hon. Friend will know, the Government recently published their response to the consultation, in which we agreed to legislate to admit videoed statements and hearsay evidence in trials, and find ways to dispel the myths about rape that can influence juries. All those measures are designed to encourage complainants to sustain prosecutions.

Mrs. Hodgson
Rape victims in my constituency are well supported by Rape Crisis support, but concerns have been expressed about the future funding for such support. What discussions has my hon. Friend had with colleagues about how that funding will be sustained in the future?

Barbara Follett
Ministers—and this Minister—are very concerned about the issue. I have had, and will have more, meetings with colleagues to discuss the sustainability of funding for Rape Crisis centres. I have also met representatives of the Rape Crisis network to discuss its future funding needs.

Mr. Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)
Young teenagers who are brought into this country by traffickers, and who are then released by the police, are sometimes worried about giving evidence. Will the Government bring forward a proposal for a number of safe houses across the country in which those women could be protected, and which would allow them to take part in future prosecutions?

Barbara Follett
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that good suggestion, which I will raise in the many discussions that I hope to have on the issue in the new year.

Mr. Stewart Jackson (Peterborough) (Con)
I heard the Minister’s reply to the hon. Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West (Mrs. Hodgson). The Minister will no doubt be aware that on 8 January, the funding for Peterborough Rape Crisis counselling group will end after 20 years, putting in jeopardy the fantastic work that the group does for women and girls who have suffered from sexual abuse or sexual crimes. Perhaps she could have a word with her colleagues in the Ministry of Justice to ensure that the funding continues, and that Peterborough people, particularly women and girls, have a service dealing with that most traumatic crime.

Barbara Follett
I understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern. In my dual capacity as Minister for Equality and Minister for the East of England, I will have discussions with the Peterborough Rape Crisis centre, and I will look at the local and national funding issues.

Mrs. Theresa May (Maidenhead) (Con)
The hon. Member for Gateshead, East and Washington, West (Mrs. Hodgson) raised an important issue about the funding for Rape Crisis centres, which was echoed by my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson). My constituents in Berkshire have no Rape Crisis centre in Berkshire, but they access one in High Wycombe, whose funding is also under threat. It may have to close next March. The Minister for Women and Equality has said:

“If the Tories come up with good ideas, we will incorporate them into our policies.”

We are committed to providing funding to Rape Crisis centres on a three-year basis, to give them greater stability in their funding. Will the Government now adopt our very sensible idea?

Barbara Follett
When the Government came to power 10 years ago, the funding for Rape Crisis centres was £500,000 a year; we have increased that to £3 million. However, I hear what the right hon. Lady is saying, and I will consider the matter in discussions with colleagues.

Government Policy

Mr. Christopher Fraser (South-West Norfolk) (Con)
25. What recent discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on co-ordinating Government policy on women and equality issues.

The Minister for Equality (Barbara Follett)
Once again, I have regular discussions with colleagues across Government on that matter. We are working constructively together to implement the Government’s priorities for women, and I am committed to developing a cross-Government strategy on equalities and implementing our equalities public service agreement.

Mr. Fraser
The women and equality unit was previously part of the Department of Trade and Industry. It was then transferred to the Department for Communities and Local Government. Now it is responsible to the newly created Government Equalities Office, which is an offshoot of the Department for Work and Pensions. Given this game of pass the parcel, does the Minister accept that the public do not believe that the Government take the issue seriously? When will responsibility move again?

Barbara Follett
I am afraid I cannot agree with the hon. Gentleman. What is important is the work that we do, not the structures within Government, which is an arcane and byzantine subject in which most members of the public are not in the least interested.

Flexible Working

Ben Chapman (Wirral, South) (Lab)
26. What steps she is taking to encourage workplaces to offer flexible working to full-time staff and to help with childcare arrangements during school holidays.

The Minister for Equality (Barbara Follett)
We have given over 6 million people—parents of young and disabled children and carers of adults—the right to request flexible working, and more than doubled the number of registered child care places. We recently announced that we will extend the right to request flexible working to the parents of older children.

Ben Chapman
But is my hon. Friend satisfied that charges for child care are always reasonable? What about the arrangements during the school holidays?

Barbara Follett
As the mother of five, I understand the problems faced by parents during holidays; that was the moment when my heart sank. We have asked local authorities to assess whether they have sufficient child care for working parents. That, I hope, will help to address part of the problem.