Speeches by Entwistle.

“Do you see that as a first step towards more equal parental leave for fathers and other parents?”

“Yes, that has to be the basic starting point, doesn’t it?”

“Joeli, your mission is to tackle pregnancy and maternity discrimination, and rightly so. To what extent could a reformed parental leave system work towards this end?”

“That is great. Do you think extending total leave would require more focus on tackling parental discrimination affecting men, and would you support better legal protections for men, alongside a reform in the parental leave system?”

“There was a video shared by BBC News recently from a nursery in Sweden, I think it was, where they showed boys and girls switching stereotypes. Boys were being taught about kindness, gentle hands and caring, and young girls were being taught to be strong. They did that for an hour, and it was a really interesting watch…”

“What do you think is the function of the current earnings criteria, and what would be the effects of scrapping them?”

“Around the eligibility for take-up of the scheme and the earnings.”

“Yes.”

“Sarah, you favour relatively modest changes to paternity leave, while keeping and reforming the shared parental leave scheme. Can your proposal overcome some concerns around shared parental leave’s maternal transfer model, and how much impact on take-up would you expect your proposal to have?”

“Too many young people are being let down by a skills and training system that does not work for them. For too long, Britain has been a country where technical education has been treated as second class, skills shortages stifled success and talent went untapped. Let us be clear: the Conservatives’ legacy has failed our …”

“My question relates to the issues around policing and data gaps. Is any work being done to improve or address those data gaps, particularly around VAWG and victims of domestic abuse? Are police forces being encouraged to collect data on the race and ethnicity of victims and extend that to perpetrators as well? That wou…”

“Can I just clarify that? You are saying you have a strong argument and evidence base for how menopause impacts women in the workplace. Are you saying there is not enough evidence or not as strong an argument for some of the other monthly health conditions women might experience and how that impacts their work?”

“You mentioned menopause earlier. I want to know what is being done to ensure that women are supported at work with their health throughout their lives, not just in terms of the menopause. There are women who suffer from endometriosis or painful periods. What more can be done to ensure that they are being supported and …”

“You mentioned the equality (race and disability) Bill. I am assuming that would be one of those mechanisms.”

“Thank you. One of the other top priorities is embedding equality and opportunity throughout the Government, including a new focus on socioeconomic background. What does that involve on a more practical level?”

“Indeed. One of the priorities of the OEO is to improve the quality of evidence and the data about inequality. What key evidence gaps are you are seeking to fill, and how will you go about doing that?”

“Would the UK Government commit to developing an annual dataset to monitor community cohesion across the UK, following best practice by countries such as Australia?”

“You have mentioned the OEO a few times. Could you explain the structure of the Office for Equality and Opportunity? Do all the different units within it report to yourselves?”

“How is the OEO’s work with other Departments structured? Are there any formal arrangements?”

“We met with Dame Sara Khan recently. Why have the Government not spoken to her yet on community cohesion, and what recommendations from the Khan review are the Government planning to take forward?”