§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what initiatives and policies have been subjected to a gender impact analysis in his Department. [94497]
§ Ms Beverley HughesAs an employer we monitor the impact on women of our recruitment, appraisal and promotion processes. To help women balance the demands of work and home, we have a range of policies including support for childcare, career breaks of up to five years and a policy that all posts (with very few exceptions) are available for part-time working and job-sharing.
We are continuing to make use of consultations, research projects and disaggregated statistics to identify the impact of policy on women. Specific examples of these include the recent consultation of various women's organisations on smoking in taxis and the development of a public transport gender audit. We are also requiring the inclusion of policy appraisal statements in each Ministerial policy submission. Other initiatives include the requirement to promote social inclusion (including meeting the transport needs of women and other social groups) in the Department's assessment of local authorities' provisional Local Transport Plans.
867WOur policies are subject to evaluation and will pick up differential impacts on specific groups, particularly where they are disadvantaged. Some policies do have intentional differential gender impacts; for example, the priority afforded to pregnant women and lone parent households (the majority of which are headed by women) in the allocation of council housing.