Women's Issues (Hansard, 8 June 1990)

§ Mrs. Gorman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has any plans to appoint a women Minister as chairman of the ministerial group on women's issues.

§ Mr. John Patten
Ministers attend the ministerial group on women's issues on the basis of their departmental responsibilities for matters within the remit of the group. The group is chaired by myself, as the Home Office Minister of State with special responsibility for equal opportunities. The vice-chairman is my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Mrs. Rumbold) who is also co-chairman of the Women's National Commission.

§ Mrs. Gorman
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policy initiatives have been undertaken as a result of discussions by the ministerial group on women's issues.

§ Mr. John Patten
The ministerial group was established in 1986 to provide a co-ordinated examination of policy issues of special concern to women, and with a particular duty to consider the Government's response to the forward looking strategies for the advancement of women (adopted during the UN Decade for Women). The main initiatives taken as a result of the group's discussions have been:

(i) A review of the Government's policy in areas covered by the Forward Looking Strategies (published in April 1987);

(ii) the issue of guidance designed to ensure that civil servants recognise the equal opportunities implications of policy proposals;

(iii) the agreement of initiatives aimed at increasing the number of women appointed to public bodies;

(iv) the agreement in April 1989 of a five-point plan designed to improve the range and quality of childcare options, followed by a second five-point plan on childcare agreed in February 1990; and
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(v) a package of initiatives drawn up in July 1989 to tackle domestic violence.
Copies of the group's report on the forward looking strategies were placed in the Library in 1987. Further details of the initiatives on equal opportunity "proofing", child care and domestic violence are given in the press releases that were issued after the group's meetings in October 1988, April 1989, July 1989, October 1989 and February 1990 (copies of which have been placed in the Library).