Women MPs in the House of Commons, like their counterparts globally, continue to face barriers to gender equality. Today the Women and Equalities Committee is launching a new inquiry to assess recent progress and make recommendations to create a more ‘gender-sensitive’ Parliament. Following The Good Parliament report in 2016 by Professor Sarah Childs, a gender-sensitive …
| Title | HC No. | Published | Items | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fifth report - Equality in the heart of democracy: A gende… | HC 131 | 2 Mar 2022 | 17 | Overdue |
There has been significant progress, particularly since 1997, towards women’s equal representation in the House of Commons. However, women still only make up just over a third of the House of Commons’ 650 MPs. There are considerable variations in women’s representation in the House across the political parties, which have …
The rise of online abuse and harassment of female parliamentary candidates and MPs, including rape and death threats, is intolerable. It is unacceptable that such behaviour has become commonplace and contributed to female MPs standing down at the last general election. Vicious misogynistic abuse must not be accepted as an …
We urge the Government to respond positively to the recommendations in the Report of the Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill, including those in paragraphs 127 and 136 relating to the Law Commission’s proposals for communications that contain threats of serious harm or that stir up hatred based …
The proxy voting scheme for parental absence is a huge step forward for gender sensitivity in the House of Commons. We strongly welcome the scheme as a permanent feature of the package of support for parent MPs. However, we note witnesses’ concerns that the scheme does not mirror statutory maternity …
Like the House of Commons’ proxy voting for parental absence scheme, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority’s (IPSA) new MP parental leave cover fund is a major step forward. It is an important part of a raft of measures in recent years that make the House of Commons a more welcoming …
We welcome the recent extension of the extended leave fund to cover a greater range of MPs’ absences from Westminster, including for ill health and wider caring responsibilities. We also welcome the establishment of a new working group in IPSA to consider how to further embed and improve extended leave …
We note that the last Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) of IPSA’s Scheme of MPs’ Staffing and Business Costs was published in 2017 and its intention to conduct an EIA alongside the next comprehensive review of the scheme, no later than 2024. We recommend that IPSA ensures the EIA is comprehensive …
Publication of MPs’ staffing and business costs incurred in relation to parental leave and other costs associated with having dependent children make parent MPs look “more expensive” than those without children. This could be perceived negatively by the public and may therefore be acting as a disincentive to claims. We …
Provision of dedicated car parking bays for MPs with young children would be a simple way of making the House of Commons more family-friendly and a small step towards reducing the burden on MPs who are also the primary carers of their children. It is a straightforward measure that you …
It is clear that gender sensitivity was not embedded in the Restoration and Renewal programme from the outset in 2013. We note that the programme now has accessibility and inclusion as one of its strategic aims and that the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body (Sponsor Body) has a small Equality, Diversity …
The Government has acted to return to pre-Covid 19 procedures in the House of Commons wherever possible, in the interests of effective representation of MPs’ constituents and parliamentary scrutiny. However, elements of the hybrid proceedings approach adopted at the height of the pandemic had important benefits for inclusion, which should …
There has been significant progress towards making the House of Commons a more welcoming and accommodating place for female MPs and those who are or want to be parents. But the House has work to do to fully understand and meet the needs and interests of women, parents and other …
The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, alongside the Behaviour Code, Valuing Everyone training and the establishment of the Cultural Transformation Team, is a significant step towards effectively tackling the House of Commons’ damaging culture of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct. We welcome the steps being taken, following the reviews of …
We welcome the recent changes to Standing Orders that are intended to allow the triggering of recall petitions in relation to MPs sanctioned by the Independent Expert Panel to suspensions from the House for the minimum duration set out in the Recall of MPs Act 2015. While the delay in …
In other workplaces, suspension of employees under investigation for sexual misconduct is rightly considered the norm. We note that the House of Commons Trade Union Side is not arguing for suspension of MPs under investigation for sexual misconduct, only for temporary exclusion. However, exclusion of MPs from Parliament is not …
We welcome the clarification by the House of Commons’ Clerk Assistant and Director of the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) of the circumstances in which the policies and procedures of the ICGS apply to the behaviour of MPs in 48 Equality in the heart of democracy: A gender sensitive …
Despite recent progress in several areas, the House of Commons currently lacks a comprehensive and systematic approach to driving forward reforms to promote gender and diversity sensitivity. This Report has demonstrated the need for further reforms in each of the key areas we have examined: equal representation; support for parent …
| Date | Witnesses | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Sep 2021 | Amanda Colledge · Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, Dr John Benger · House of Commons, Ian Todd · Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), Marianne Cwynarski OBE · House of Commons, Sarah Davies · House of Commons, Sarah Petit · House of Commons | View ↗ |
| 14 Jul 2021 | Chris Bryant MP · Standards Committee (SP), Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP · House of Commons, Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP · Procedure Committee, Sir Charles Walker MP · Administration Committee, Thangam Debbonaire MP · House of Commons | View ↗ |
| 23 Jun 2021 | Chris Bryant MP · Standards Committee (SP), Karen Bradley MP · Procedure Committee, Mike Freer MP · House of Commons, Owen Thompson MP · Opposition Department, Thangham Debbonaire MP · House of Commons | View ↗ |
| 9 Jun 2021 | Dr Alexandra Meakin · University of Manchester, Ken Gall · Trade Union Side, UK Parliament, Professor Sarah Childs · London University Royal Holloway College | View ↗ |
| Date | Direction | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Dec 2022 | From cttee | Letter to the Leader of the House regarding Gender Sensitive Parliament report |
| 7 Dec 2022 | From cttee | Letter to the Chair of the Administration Committee regarding Gender Sensitive … |
| 30 Nov 2022 | — | Report from the House of Commons Commission to the Committee on the outstanding… |
| 2 Dec 2021 | — | Correspondence to the Chair from the Chief Executive and Accounting Officer for… |
| 25 Nov 2021 | — | Correspondence to the Chair from the Trade Union Side President relating to his… |
| 19 Nov 2021 | — | Correspondence to the Chair from the Leader of the House relating to our inquir… |
| 18 Aug 2021 | — | Correspondence to the Chair from the Leader of the House relating to our inquir… |
| 11 Aug 2021 | — | Correspondence to the Chair from Chris Bryant MP relating to our inquiry into a… |
| 20 Jul 2021 | — | Correspondence from the Chair to Chris Bryant MP relating to our inquiry into a… |
| 20 Jul 2021 | — | Correspondence from the Chair to the Leader of the House of Commons relating to… |
| 20 Jul 2021 | — | Correspondence from the Chair to the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons rela… |
| 8 Jul 2021 | — | Correspondence to the Chair from the Leader of the House of Commons relating to… |
| 24 Jun 2021 | — | Correspondence from the Chair to the Leader of the House of Commons relating to… |