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To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress they have made regarding the implementation of section 106 of the Equality Act 2010, “Information about diversity in range of candidates, etc”.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what progress they have made regarding the implementation of section 106 of the Equality Act 2010, “Information about diversity in range of candidates, etc”.
My Lords, the Government are committed to commencing Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010, requiring registered political parties to publish anonymised data on the diversity of their candidate selections in accordance with regulations. Officials are currently exploring when and how to commence the provision. Careful consideration needs to be given to how it might be implemented, the supporting regulations and whether any phasing might be needed in implementation. Officials will consult with stakeholders in due course.
I thank my noble friend the Minister for his reply. It is encouraging to know that some action is now being taken, but does he agree with me that the reason why the House of Commons now has the largest number of women MPs is that political parties took positive action to ensure that they fielded women candidates? The same could be done now when looking for diversity, which is what we need, through Section 106. Will my noble friend guarantee that it will be implemented in time for the next general election, so that we see a much better diversity after that election than we have at present?
I thank my noble friend the Minister for his reply. It is encouraging to know that some action is now being taken, but does he agree with me that the reason why the House of Commons now has the largest number of women MPs is that political parties took positive action to ensure that they fielded women candidates? The same could be done now when looking for diversity, which is what we need, through Section 106. Will my noble friend guarantee that it will be implemented in time for the next general election, so that we see a much better diversity after that election than we have at present?
I think my noble friend knows full well my position. When I was general secretary of the Labour Party, I was strongly behind having all-women shortlists, which has meant that
40% of Labour MPs are women. Implementing the policy would clearly demonstrate progress towards better representation among candidates of the population they seek to represent. As I said in my initial Answer, this is not simply a question of switching on the provision: careful consideration needs to be given to the requirements of the necessary supporting regulations and whether any phasing might be needed in implementation. Officials will of course consult with stakeholders, including political parties, in due course.
I thank my noble friend the Minister for his reply. I am so pleased that our Government have this policy. On the commitments in the manifesto, will he say what action is being taken to ensure that schools address misogyny so that boys and girls are being taught about healthy relationships and consent? What progress is being made on introducing domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms so that victims can talk directly to a specialist, and on ensuring that there is a legal advocate in every police force area to advise victims from the moment of report to trial? What progress is being made on having specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every police force and on fast-tracking rape cases with specialist courts in every Crown Court in England and Wales?
I thank my noble friend the Minister for his reply. I am so pleased that our Government have this policy. On the commitments in the manifesto, will he say what action is being taken to ensure that schools address misogyny so that boys and girls are being taught about healthy relationships and consent? What progress is being made on introducing domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms so that victims can talk directly to a specialist, and on ensuring that there is a legal advocate in every police force area to advise victims from the moment of report to trial? What progress is being made on having specialist rape and sexual offence teams in every police force and on fast-tracking rape cases with specialist courts in every Crown Court in England and Wales?
I am grateful to my noble friend. We have made progress on all three of those objectives. The Department for Education and my noble friend Lady Smith of Malvern have published an updated curriculum this year, which includes teaching online safety and awareness of healthy relationships. We have already introduced domestic abuse specialists in the first five police forces under what we call Raneem’s law, and we will expand the rollout to more police forces very shortly, as soon as possible. We are also working with key stakeholders on the delivery of legal advocates, and we are hoping to make further announcements on that very shortly.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the prevalence of violence against women and girls in line with the Labour Party Manifesto 2024 commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the prevalence of violence against women and girls in line with the Labour Party Manifesto 2024 commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
The work to halve violence against women and girls in a decade started the day the Government entered office, and I pay tribute to my colleague Jess Phillips for her work in this area. The Government have already announced a series of cross-government measures, including a £13.1 million investment in the creation of a national policing centre for violence against women and girls, and measures to tackle specific crime types, including honour-based abuse, spiking and stalking. Our cross-government strategy approach underpinning a new strategy will be published as soon as possible.
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the humane slaughter of farmed fish; and whether they are they considering plans to introduce species-specific slaughter legislation for farmed fish.
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the humane slaughter of farmed fish; and whether they are they considering plans to introduce species-specific slaughter legislation for farmed fish.
Current legislation already provides protection for farmed fish kept for the production of meat or other products whilst on farm and during transport. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any protected animal, including fish, or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of a protected animal, for which that person is responsible. Legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing also requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.
Since publication of the Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing a GB-wide joint government-industry working group on farmed trout has been examining the issues raised in the report. This co-design work has made good progress on exploring potential options for more detailed welfare at killing requirements. We are now exploring all the potential next steps, including options for creating detailed guidance and new legislation.
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the humane slaughter of farmed fish; and whether they are considering plans to introduce species-specific slaughter legislation for farmed fish.
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure the humane slaughter of farmed fish; and whether they are considering plans to introduce species-specific slaughter legislation for farmed fish.
Current legislation already provides protection for farmed fish kept for the production of meat or other products whilst on farm and during transport. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any protected animal, including fish, or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of a protected animal, for which that person is responsible. Legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing also requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.
To ask His Majesty's Government when the Animal Welfare Strategy will be published.
To ask His Majesty's Government when the Animal Welfare Strategy will be published.
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The Prime Minister announced that we will be publishing an animal welfare strategy later this year.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to update legislation to include species-specific requirements for the slaughter of farmed fish; and what assessment they have made of the potential benefits of such measures for improving animal welfare standards and enhancing the competitiveness of the English aquaculture sector.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to update legislation to include species-specific requirements for the slaughter of farmed fish; and what assessment they have made of the potential benefits of such measures for improving animal welfare standards and enhancing the competitiveness of the English aquaculture sector.
The Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing was finalised in 2023. Since then a GB-wide joint government-industry working group on farmed trout has been examining the issues raised in the report to explore potential options for more detailed welfare at killing requirements. This co-design work has made good progress and we are now exploring all the potential next steps. The Scottish Government is also working closely with the salmon industry on more detailed welfare at killing requirements.
The Fisheries and Seafood Scheme also recently opened for applications. The Scheme offers financial support to catching, processing and aquaculture businesses, including for improvements to animal health and welfare such as equipment to protect farms from wild predators or equipment to kill fish in a more humane way.
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to mark the centenary of the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 in 2028.
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to mark the centenary of the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 in 2028.
We are aware of this significant milestone and the opportunity it represents; both for celebrating women being granted equal voting rights, and inspiring women and girls to get involved in politics.
We will work across Departments to coordinate efforts to mark the occasion.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the summary of responses and Government response to the public consultation on fairer food labelling on 12 June, whether they intend to implement mandatory method-of-production labelling for eggs, pork and chicken.
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the summary of responses and Government response to the public consultation on fairer food labelling on 12 June, whether they intend to implement mandatory method-of-production labelling for eggs, pork and chicken.
On 12 June 2025 we published the summary of responses and the Government response to the fairer food labelling consultation, which was undertaken last year by the previous Government. The response is available here on GOV.UK.
We recognise the strong support from the public and other stakeholders for clearer information for consumers on welfare standards for their food. We have also heard and understood the views raised on the detail of the consultation proposals by the many interested parties who have responded to this consultation.
We will consider the potential role of method of production labelling reform as part of the ongoing development of the government’s wider animal welfare and food strategies.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic benefits of investing in alternatives to animal testing for the UK life sciences sector.
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic benefits of investing in alternatives to animal testing for the UK life sciences sector.
The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year, which will consider economic impacts including benefits.
Building on the UK’s strengths as home to world leading research and pharmaceutical businesses, the strategy will support the UK to capitalise on the global non-animal technologies market, estimated to be worth $29.4 billion by 2030, and on the scientific and economic advantages of more human-relevant methods for product development and testing.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the policy to require government catering contracts to favour high-welfare products will be determined in line with the highest animal welfare tiers set out in the consultation on fairer food labelling.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the policy to require government catering contracts to favour high-welfare products will be determined in line with the highest animal welfare tiers set out in the consultation on fairer food labelling.
The National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February, underscores the Government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards, supporting local suppliers and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts. This includes sourcing products from all farmed animals which have been raised to high UK welfare standards as defined in current animal welfare legislation.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that a veterinary agreement with the European Union includes protections to ensure that the UK can implement mandatory animal welfare method-of-production labelling, including on imports.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that a veterinary agreement with the European Union includes protections to ensure that the UK can implement mandatory animal welfare method-of-production labelling, including on imports.
The Government is committed to resetting our EU relationship, including by seeking to negotiate an SPS agreement. We have been clear that an SPS agreement could boost trade and deliver significant benefits on both sides. It’s too early to discuss any specific areas in detail and we will not be providing a running commentary on discussions with the EU.
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation.
A public consultation on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory method of production labelling was undertaken last year by the previous Government. We are now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will respond to this consultation in due course.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to phase out the use of cages for farmed animals and to explore introducing animal welfare labelling, following the European Commission's recent announcement on these measures.
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to phase out the use of cages for farmed animals and to explore introducing animal welfare labelling, following the European Commission's recent announcement on these measures.
We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.
The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.
A public consultation on fairer food labelling was undertaken between March and May 2024 by the previous Government. We are now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will respond to this consultation in due course.
I thank my noble friend for her reply. I am quite encouraged by what she had to say, but does she agree that having a diversity of candidates means that the elected representatives will look like the people they represent, which will give more authority to our elected institutions, because people will be able to relate to them much better? Can she say when this provision will be implemented? We have been waiting 15 years for it now; that is quite some time. Those who are now shadow Ministers in the party opposite will know that I asked them this question numerous times. I am hoping that I will not have to do the same now to my noble friend.
I thank my noble friend for her reply. I am quite encouraged by what she had to say, but does she agree that having a diversity of candidates means that the elected representatives will look like the people they represent, which will give more authority to our elected institutions, because people will be able to relate to them much better? Can she say when this provision will be implemented? We have been waiting 15 years for it now; that is quite some time. Those who are now shadow Ministers in the party opposite will know that I asked them this question numerous times. I am hoping that I will not have to do the same now to my noble friend.
My Lords, I have enormous respect for my noble friend and the leadership role that she has played in political parties—and, of course, in ensuring diversity. I too hope that she will not need to ask this Government as many times as she had to ask the previous Government, because we have made clear our commitment to implementing Section 106. We need to work through how we are going to do that and who will be included. I think it is right that something as important as this is done properly. I look forward to her challenge and her support as we take that forward.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to implement section 106 of the Equality Act 2010 to require information to be published on the diversity of political candidates.
To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to implement section 106 of the Equality Act 2010 to require information to be published on the diversity of political candidates.
My Lords, the Government are committed to commencing the Equality Act 2010’s provision requiring registered political parties to publish anonymised data relating to the diversity of their candidate selections. We are currently exploring when and how to commence that provision under Section 106. Implementing this policy would, through increased transparency, demonstrate tangible progress towards better representation among candidates of the population they seek to serve, and thereby increase the involvement of all groups across the democratic process.
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that any veterinary agreement concluded with the European Union will not undermine the United Kingdom's existing animal welfare protections or limit the ability of the United Kingdom to introduce new animal welfare protections, including on imports, in the...
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that any veterinary agreement concluded with the European Union will not undermine the United Kingdom's existing animal welfare protections or limit the ability of the United Kingdom to introduce new animal welfare protections, including on imports, in the...
This Government is committed to resetting relations between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU). As part of this, the government is seeking to negotiate a veterinary/ sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers on both sides. The UK and EU are like-minded partners with similarly high standards.
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. That is exactly what the Government will do, and we will be outlining more detail in due course.
Will the Minister join me in congratulating the Chancellor on giving the £25 million, just for next year? I believe that is the first tranche, and that there will be more to come. I am so pleased that this Government have recognised the need to provide the money so that we can have safe coal tips, certainly where I live. I am from the Rhondda Valley, surrounded by coal tips, and there is still a danger, as we saw only a few years ago in Tylorstown, when the coal tip slipped. Thankfully, no one was harmed. I am so pleased that the Chancellor has agreed to pay the money, knowing that the Welsh Government on their own cannot deliver the funding for that need. Will the Minister confirm that this will be continuous now—it is not just for next year but for years to come?
Will the Minister join me in congratulating the Chancellor on giving the £25 million, just for next year? I believe that is the first tranche, and that there will be more to come. I am so pleased that this Government have recognised the need to provide the money so that we can have safe coal tips, certainly where I live. I am from the Rhondda Valley, surrounded by coal tips, and there is still a danger, as we saw only a few years ago in Tylorstown, when the coal tip slipped. Thankfully, no one was harmed. I am so pleased that the Chancellor has agreed to pay the money, knowing that the Welsh Government on their own cannot deliver the funding for that need. Will the Minister confirm that this will be continuous now—it is not just for next year but for years to come?
I agree with my noble friend. This is a matter of keeping people safe. We have touched on Aberfan, and the impact that had on communities and on many people around your Lordships’ House. The subject of future funding will be raised in the spending review, and I look forward to those discussions with my noble friends in the Treasury.
To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to remove the reservation on Article 59 of the Istanbul Convention relating to the residence status of victims of domestic abuse.
To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they plan to remove the reservation on Article 59 of the Istanbul Convention relating to the residence status of victims of domestic abuse.
Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for the Government. Our mission is to halve levels of violence against women and girls within a decade. We are reviewing all the issues impacting migrant victims of domestic abuse in the round, including a review on whether it is appropriate to maintain our reservation on Article 59 of the convention.
I thank my noble friend the Minister for that Answer but I am a little disappointed. If he is saying that there will be a review, can he say how long it will take and what its consequences will be? He cannot answer those questions yet, obviously, but I hope that it will recommend that Article 59 be removed because, in the meantime, migrant women are in a very difficult position if they are in an abusive relationship. They are afraid to leave the relationship in case they lose their migrant status or their children. No woman should have to put up with that. I hope that he will take this into account and get the review done as soon as possible.
I thank my noble friend the Minister for that Answer but I am a little disappointed. If he is saying that there will be a review, can he say how long it will take and what its consequences will be? He cannot answer those questions yet, obviously, but I hope that it will recommend that Article 59 be removed because, in the meantime, migrant women are in a very difficult position if they are in an abusive relationship. They are afraid to leave the relationship in case they lose their migrant status or their children. No woman should have to put up with that. I hope that he will take this into account and get the review done as soon as possible.
I am grateful to my noble friend for her comments and hate to disappoint her. I hope that I can reassure her that when the previous Government made the original reservation against Article 59, they did commit to evaluate findings of the support for migrant victims scheme pilot, to inform future decisions. That pilot was completed in August 2023. Funding for the scheme has been extended to 2025. We want migrant victims to be treated as victims first and foremost so we are reviewing this. However, the reservation will be maintained until that review is complete, which I hope will be very shortly.