Speeches by Burton-Sampson.

“Coming from a financial services background, I totally understand the need to reduce regulatory burden, but that is reducing regulatory burden in areas where things are working as they should be. In this area, it is not working because we are not getting finance to women who need it. Is that not a call to perhaps incre…”

“Thank you all for being here. I am going to go to Kristen first, if I may. We know that female investors are twice as likely to back female entrepreneurs. What is the British Business Bank doing to ensure that women are part of those decision-making structures in venture capital?”

“Following up with you, Minister McDougall, your predecessor told us that requiring businesses to sign up to the code would be inappropriate as compliance cannot be tracked. Is this still an issue, and if so, what progress is being made to address that?”

“Why are you not doing it?”

“What is stopping you from mandating companies to be a signatory to the Investing in Women Code?”

“”

“Ama, what is your point of view, with your business?”

“Ama, I am quite interested in your views on this too. Being a large multinational, as BNP is, how do you assess the benefits and cost of investment in your EDI-related functions?”

“When you look at the structure of an HR team, is it really possible to separate out the work done on EDI, compared to other essential HR functions, such as sickness absence, performance management or the various leave arrangements?”

“Just to clarify, your view is that it is not possible to split it out?”

“Thank you all for coming in again. Zoe, to what extent do you think EDI can be a drag on companies’ productivity?”

“Thank you. Louise, do you want to add something?”

“Iain, your report, “Putting Business Back in the Driving Seat: Countering the rise of EDI in the workplace”, argues that the size of the UK’s EDI sector is a “misallocation of labour that is costing the economy £10 billion”. Could you explain how you arrived at that £10 billion figure?”

“As my right hon. Friend mentioned, in 2022 Liz Truss launched a household energy support package that provided blanket support to every household, including the most well off. It was estimated to cost between £57 billion and £60 billion, just over the first six months; that was predominantly funded by borrowing. Does m…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this debate forward. The SS Richard Montgomery is equally as visible from Southend, and my residents in Southend and Leigh on the other side of the estuary share all the same stories as his residents. They have an affinity to these masts and the stories of the ship that they hear—as …”

“You are comparing the UK model, with UK ONS codes, to the US model, which is possibly different. Are you comparing like with like, or are you comparing apples with oranges?”

“That is really helpful. Just to go back to the original question, Ama, do you view EDI to any extent as a drag on your company’s productivity?”

“Under the former Conservative leader of Southend city council, who is now the leader of the Reform group, £4 million was budgeted for road and pothole resurfacing works, even though highways engineers had estimated that £6 million was needed just to keep them in the poor condition they were in. I am therefore delighted…”

“Are comedy club owners, bookers and promoters responsible for the lack of representation, or to what extent are they? Or is it all down to audience preference?”

“Nina, there is a perception that women are not funny and audiences enjoy male comedians more. Briefly, what impact does that have on female comedians or even aspiring female comedians?”