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  • Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Statement on Toilet Provision in Public Buildings

    Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Statement on Toilet Provision in Public Buildings

    The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Local Government, Faith and Communities, in the House of Commons on 4 July 2022.

    Toilets, both in municipal and private sector locations, are an important facility for members of the public, in particular, women, those with children, older people and disabled people.

    The Government have taken a number of steps recently to support the increased provision of ‘Changing Places’ toilets for disabled people for whom standard accessible toilets are not suitable. Last year, the Government introduced 100% business rates relief for public toilets in England and Wales.

    In October 2020, Government published a review: Toilet provision for men and women: call for evidence. This stemmed from evidence that shows that increasing numbers of publicly accessible toilets are being converted into ‘gender neutral’ facilities, causing problems for women and older people in particular.

    ‘Gender neutral’ facilities mean men and women share the same space for waiting and hand wash facilities; these should be contrasted with dedicated, self-contained ‘unisex’ toilets which maintain privacy for the single user (also known as ‘universal toilets’).

    Such ‘gender neutral’ toilets place women at a significant disadvantage. While men can then use both cubicles and urinals, women can only use the former. The net effect is actually to reduce toilet provision for women. Women also need safe spaces given their particular biological, health and sanitary needs (for example, women who are menstruating, pregnant or at menopause, may need to use the toilet more often). Women are also likely to feel less comfortable using mixed sex facilities.

    The review also asked for views on increasing the ratio of female toilets. Male toilets typically allow for a quicker transition of customers due to the use of urinals, yet insufficient female toilets are provided for a comparative number of cubicles to allow the same number of users to be served. This is not to disadvantage any sex – but greater ratios of female cubicles would help avoid queues inside and outside toilets.

    The Government are also aware of broader concerns that women’s biological differences are being ‘erased’ in public life. It is important that women’s biological needs are respected and taken into account in the provision of facilities such as toilets. A high volume of responses were received to the call for evidence, all of which have been read and analysed.

    The call for evidence analysis has been carefully considered, and research has been commissioned by my Department on the design of toilet facilities. Following on from this, in autumn 2022, the Department will launch a technical consultation on formal changes to the building regulations and approved guidance, informed by the call for evidence responses.

    The Government are minded to take the following approach to rules and guidance in England, subject to further consultation and assessment of equality impacts:

    Policy Goal

    Change to the building regulations and approved guidance

    To amend building regulations and guidance to ensure separate toilets for men and women continues to be provided,

    guidance to encourage the provision of a unisex toilet, where space allows

    Implementing a threshold approach i.e. above a certain number of toilet cubicles, require the provision of toilets for a range of users including separate male and female toilets, unisex toilets/ universal toilets, baby change, disabled Persons toilets, and changing places toilets.

    Where unisex toilets are provided, that privacy is ensured

    To set out the design of a unisex self-contained/ universal toilet cubicle with a sink which is designed to maximise privacy—informed by research underway and the call for evidence analysis.

    To announce the intent for greater provision of toilets to reduce queuing

    We will work with the British Standards Institution to develop the evidence base with a view thereafter to them updating their relevant codes of practice.

    The technical review will ensure that the specific requirements of disabled users remain salient, and that access to and provision of toilets for disabled people will not be undermined by wider improvements to toilet provision more generally. The Department will be considering already commissioned research on the design of both disabled persons’ toilets and changing places toilets as part of this review.

    Better customer toilet provision in commercial environments may encourage people to visit the premises. The Government will be undertaking a full regulatory impact assessment.

    Such changes to building rules will also complement existing statutory provisions in education law for schools to provide sex-specific—or self-contained unisex—toilets for children.

    We would also encourage Government bodies to consider how such principles can be adopted now in its own buildings, prior to formal changes in building regulations.

    The Government believe the proposals that we are minded to adopt will have positive equality outcomes for women, older people, pregnant women, those with babies, people who come under the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, and disabled people.

    This common sense approach on protecting and improving toilet provision will ensure dignity, privacy, tolerance and respect for all, and further the cause of equality and inclusion by recognising the different needs of everyone in society.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Comments on the Windrush Monument at London Waterloo

    Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Comments on the Windrush Monument at London Waterloo

    The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Communities Minister, on 22 June 2022.

    This is a special moment in our nation’s history and I am grateful to all those who worked tirelessly to bring it into being.

    Basil Watson’s sculpture perfectly captures the spirit of Windrush. In it we see the strength, hope and expectation of those who arrived with little and yet gave so much.

    As a first-generation immigrant myself, the Windrush story resonates with me and it is important we recognise the contribution of those who have so enriched our country.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Comments on Windrush Grants

    Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Comments on Windrush Grants

    The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Communities Minister, on 20 May 2022.

    The legacy of the Windrush generation means so much to so many.

    As a first-generation immigrant myself, I understand personally how important it is to highlight how much we welcome and celebrate the contributions made by those who choose to make Britain home.

    Thanks to our funding, events across England will take place on 22 June, helping remember and recognise the leading role the Windrush Generation and their descendants have played in making Britain stronger, culturally richer and more inclusive.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Comments on Inclusive Britain Strategy

    Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Comments on Inclusive Britain Strategy

    The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Levelling Up and Communities, on 7 April 2022.

    Our landmark Inclusive Britain strategy makes clear that we are a welcoming country whose strength lies within its communities. So, when people try to create divisions amongst us, we must be unwavering in our resolve to stay united.

    By sharing your views, you will be helping ensure that our work to tackle extremism continues on the right track – so that risks in our communities are easily recognised and swiftly dealt with, and we can build resilience and promote social cohesion.

    Our levelling up mission includes empowering communities – and this call to action is a great example of that ideal in action.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Statement on Supporting Families Annual Report

    Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Statement on Supporting Families Annual Report

    The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Levelling Up Communities, in the House of Commons on 31 March 2022.

    As required by the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016, section 3(1), today I have published the 2021-22 annual report of the Supporting Families programme. The report sets out how the programme has been helping our most disadvantaged families who face multiple and complex problems.

    Supporting Families (previously the Troubled Families programme) helps level up key services to give families the practical support they need to stop domestic abuse and combat problems such as unemployment, persistent school absence and poor mental and physical health, with funding allocated based on deprivation and population figures. It has been at the heart of our ambition to strengthen families and improve their futures for 10 years. At last year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced £200 million of additional investment to expand the programme. This is around a 40% real-terms uplift in funding by 2024-25, taking total planned investment across the next three years to £695 million.

    Through its 10 years of delivery, the programme has directly helped hundreds of thousands of vulnerable families make positive changes to their lives, with many thousands more benefiting from access to early, co-ordinated whole family support. Importantly, the programme has shown what is possible when we step in early to help families and prevent problems from escalating. The programme’s evaluation showed it reduced the proportion of children on the programme going into care by a third, the proportion of adults going to prison by a quarter and the proportion of young people going to prison by 38%.

    Reducing the pressure on high-cost statutory services such as children’s social care is a key focus for the expanded programme. Between 2022-23 and 2024-25 my Department will work closely with the Department for Education, local authorities, and their partners to deliver support to up to 300,000 more families.

    “Levelling up for families: annual report of the Supporting Families programme 2021-2022” marks the 10th year of Supporting Families delivery and includes an update on the programme’s performance and a summary of the latest research findings and policy developments for the programme.

    Between April 2021 and January 2022, the programme has funded local authorities to achieve successful outcomes with 55,421 families. This includes 1,838 adults who were helped into sustained employment, and builds on 414,955 successful family outcomes achieved by the Troubled Families programme between April 2015 and March 2021. These families faced multiple and complex problems including a combination of crime, truancy, neglect, anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse, poor mental health, worklessness and financial exclusion. Every successful family outcome represents a family’s life changed for the better—a considerable achievement for the families and the local services supporting them.

    The report sets out how we are improving the programme in this next phase. We have updated the programme’s funding formula to reflect current need by redistributing funding to more deprived areas in line with our ambition to level up across the country. We are setting refreshed expectations on the outcomes to be achieved with families through a new outcomes framework and setting expectations for an effective early help system through an updated early help system guide. Local authorities use the outcomes framework to assess whether families are eligible for the programme’s funding, measure if the family’s situation is improving, and define what a good outcome looks like for each problem. The refresh will make sure that the programme continues to reflect the needs of families. The early help system guide outlines a national vision and descriptors for an effective and mature “early help system” to enable local authorities and their partners to deliver seamless, responsive, and co-ordinated preventive support to families. Updating the guide will ensure that local authorities delivering the programme continue to improve their early help offer and have clarity on what a high-standard system looks like.

    The annual report summarises the latest research findings relating to the programme. Alongside the annual report, I have also published a new research report by the independent research organisation Kantar, which looks at effective practice and service delivery in local areas. This sets out what a sample of local areas report as the most effective approaches for delivering positive change in families’ lives. I will deposit copies of both reports in the House of Commons Library.

    I look forward to working alongside local authorities, their partners and other stakeholders as the programme celebrates its 10th anniversary, and seeing first-hand the continued impact it has on the lives of our most vulnerable families.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Statement on Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

    Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Statement on Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

    The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Levelling Up Communities, in the House of Commons on 22 March 2022.

    On 18 January 2022,1 announced to the House that the Secretary of State was minded to intervene at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (“the authority”) and to appoint Commissioners to take over functions associated with the governance and scrutiny of strategic decision making, and of those relating to the appointment and dismissal of statutory officers.

    At the same time, I sought views on how best to improve political stability in the authority’s leadership and to move towards a four-yearly election cycle.

    These proposals followed the publication of a “Value for Money Governance” review by the authority’s external auditor, Grant Thornton, issued to the authority on 3 December 2021. The review makes 45 wide-ranging recommendations, three of which are statutory recommendations, and in my view provides considerable evidence that the authority has failed to comply with its best value duty over a number of years. This is a requirement set out in the Local Government Act 1999 to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, with regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

    The Governance review paints a deeply troubling picture of mismanagement and of ineffective scrutiny and accountability arrangements at the authority. While the review recognises the recent progress made under the Interim Chief Executive, Kim Bromley-Derry CBE DL, it also notes how, historically, senior officers and members have been unable to make the changes required to move away from the past.

    While the Secretary of State is encouraged by the “green shoots” of progress described in the report, his view is that the risk of progress stalling or slowing is significant. He believes the proposed intervention is necessary and expedient to secure compliance with the best value duty.

    As part of my announcement in January, I invited the authority to make representations about my proposals to formally intervene on or before 11 February 2022.

    Representations were received from 15 parties: the authority, its Conservative Councillor Group, an independent Councillor, three MPs, eight residents and one residents’ group. With one exception, all the representations supported the intervention and the proposal to appoint Commissioners.

    The authority welcomed the support of the Department with its improvement, and stated that it looked forward to working with Commissioners and developing a clear improvement plan. In relation to elections, the authority confirmed that it is in the process of developing an action plan which includes consultation and engagement activity.

    The Conservative Group and the independent Councillor pledged to work with the Commissioners. Residents were universally supportive of the intervention and keen to see real improvement in the authority’s services.

    While two MPs supported intervention, one was opposed, citing the need for the progress made by the Council’s new senior leaders not to be undermined by Commissioners.

    Best value intervention in Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

    Following consideration of these representations, the Secretary of State has decided to proceed with the proposals announced on 18 January.

    Appointing Commissioners for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council the Secretary of State has decided to appoint two Commissioners with a proven record of leadership, transformation and strong governance, and the specific expertise that will be relevant to their functions.

    The Governance review recognises that it is the interim Chief Executive Officer, Kim Bromley-Derry CBE DL, that has been driving change within the authority since his arrival in August 2021. It is for this reason that the Secretary of State has decided to appoint Mr Bromley-Derry as Managing Director Commissioner, a role which will enable him to continue the work that he has already begun, and to provide the authority with the consistent leadership capacity that it needs to continue its recovery. I would also like to thank Mr Bromley-Derry’s employers, McLaren Construction Group, for enabling his appointment.

    Kim Bromley Derry CBE DL (Managing Director Commissioner)—Kim has more than 35 years of public sector experience, including eight years as Chief Executive of the London Borough of Newham. He was also Director of Children’s Services at both the London Borough of Newham and South Tyneside Council and a Children’s Services Director at Leicester City Council. Kim was appointed Interim Chief Executive of Sandwell Council in August 2021 after being temporarily released from his role as Group Director for strategic partnerships at McLaren Construction Group. Kim has also been President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services and chaired the Government’s Libraries Taskforce.

    Jim Taylor (Assistant Commissioner)—Jim served for six years as Chief Executive of Salford City Council prior to his retirement in 2021. He also fulfilled the role of Interim Chief Executive of Trafford Borough Council simultaneously from July 2018 to February 2019. Prior to this Jim was the Chief Executive of Rochdale Council having also served as Director for Children’s Services at Tameside MBC. In June 2021 Jim was appointed by the Secretary of State to undertake an external assurance review of governance at Slough Borough Council.

    The Commissioners have been appointed for two years from 22 March 2022 to 22 March 2024, or such earlier or later time as we determine. We are clear that the directions should operate for as long, and only as long, and only in the form, as necessary.

    The Commissioners will be asked to provide their first report within the next three months. Further reports will be provided every six months, or as agreed with the Commissioners.

    I want to be clear that most decisions will continue to be made by the authority; the intention being that Commissioners will only use their powers as a last resort if they are dissatisfied with the authority’s improvement processes.

    Commissioners will work collaboratively with Emma Taylor, Chief Executive of Sandwell Children’s Trust and Mark Gurrey, the Department for Education’s children’s services adviser and Chair of the Council’s improvement board for children’ services. This will ensure that the improvements overseen to date through the Department for Education’s statutory intervention continue to be made.

    I would also like to thank the LGA for the continued support it has provided to the authority, most recently through a Corporate Peer Challenge.

    As with other interventions led by my Department, the authority will be directed to meet the costs of the Commissioners. The fees paid to individuals are published in appointment letters which are available separately on www.gov.uk. I am assured this provides value for money given the expertise that is being brought, and the scale of the challenge in councils requiring statutory intervention.

    Conclusion

    The Government will continue to work closely with the political, business, and cultural leadership of Sandwell, and is committed to making sure the residents of Sandwell have what they need from their local council, including confidence in its governance and service delivery.

    I have published the directions and explanatory memorandum associated with this announcement at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/proposed-intervention-at-sandwell-metropolitan-borough-council.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Speech to the LGA Local Government Finance Conference

    Kemi Badenoch – 2022 Speech to the LGA Local Government Finance Conference

    The speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, at the LGA Local Government Finance Conference on 13 January 2022.

    Thank you, James [Jamieson]. Its what you get when a Treasury Minister comes in to local government rather than the other way around. So I’m glad that the sector is pleased, and I think I’d start off by saying a little bit about the role of local government just in terms of delivering for our communities. It’s never been more important than through this incredibly challenging period. And it was good to hear you speak about the sector’s priorities and how we can ensure that you all are well-equipped to do the best possible job.

    It’s my pleasure to be setting out the government’s position this morning.

    This is my first keynote speech as a Minister for Local Government so please be nice when it comes to the Q&A! I am still early on the learning curve.

    First of all I’d like to thank the many councillors, and council officers as well, who are joining us this morning for your tireless efforts – not just through the pandemic but in everything you do. I used to be married to a local councillor so I know what it’s like and I just want to say thank you.

    From the department’s perspective you have been – and remain – at the very forefront of our response to COVID.

    From your efforts in shielding the vulnerable, protecting those people who have been isolated, helping over 37,000 rough sleepers off the streets through Everyone In… all of this has been absolutely heroic.

    And right through to your on-going work today, you’re making sure that the booster rollout has been the incredible success that it has been. You’ve been welcoming and helping Afghan refugees safely settle in the UK through Operation Warm Welcome. And it’s really hard to think of a time when local government, local councils, local councillors, all of you, council officers, it’s hard to think of a time when you’ve played a more important part in the history of our country. So thank you very much.

    That’s why, since the start of the pandemic, we have provided £13 billion in support and compensation for income losses that you had, to help you tackle the worst effects that the virus wrought.

    And we are determined that you have the tools, the funding and the resources you need, not just to continue the work, but to forge a lasting recovery – you know, the PM talks about building back better, as he says – that’s really what we want you to be able to do going forward.

    Bigger picture

    So looking at the bigger picture – before turning to the settlement itself, I think it’s important to reflect on some of the broader developments the sector has seen over the past few months.

    There have been important developments in grant funding for councils, so the £1.6 billion of additional grant for the year 2022/2023 announced at the Spending Review last October.

    This new grant provides additional support for critical programmes like Supporting Families, of which I am very interested, and Cyber Resilience, as well as new funding which will be distributed through the settlement.

    We’ve seen changes in the way we support local investment too, this is before my time, but recognising the vital role this plays in service delivery, in housing provision and of course in levelling up, which is what we are all about.

    In June last year, I have been reliably informed by my visuals, we published our plan to make sure the capital investment system continues to support local decision-making freedom but at the same time preventing that excessive – the excess risk taking, from a small number of local authorities.

    And, as many of you know, in December, the government published the adult social care reform white paper, People at the Heart of Care, which sets out our 10-year vision along with a commitment to invest £5.4 billion in the sector over the next 3 years.

    Provisional local government finance settlement (LGFS)

    So as we look to the future, we want to work in hand in hand with you, given all the issues that you’ve raised with us over the last few months and year, that’s really the approach underpinning the provisional local government finance settlement we announced last month.

    So the settlement delivers an additional £3.5 billion for the sector and a real terms funding increase of over 4% for councils in the year ahead, which I hope you’re all really pleased to hear. Feel free to put the applause emojis on the Zoom. It’s not always easy getting money out of the Treasury but we’re very, very pleased with the settlement.

    Most of the £1.6 billion of new funding announced at Spending Review will be allocated through the settlement, including that additional £822 million for all services that you’re all curious about, through that one-off 2022/23 Services Grant – and we believe that this is substantial support in what remains a very testing time.

    You also asked us for stability – and this settlement provides stability, and a firm foundation on which to build and grow, rolling over support like the New Homes Bonus, the Rural Services Delivery Grant, and the Lower Tier Services Grant, and it also increases the Revenue Support Grant by £70 million and updates the funding floor, which is something James and others have been really keen to see, so it updates the funding floor so that no council anywhere in England receives less money than last year.

    And I know some of you will accuse us of just doing a Goldilocks, but we think we’ve done the right thing with a core referendum principle of 2%, plus an additional 1% adult social care precept, we believe this is a settlement that strikes the right balance between giving councils flexibility to raise income whilst also protecting our very hard-working taxpayers.

    Social care

    But importantly, this settlement also recognises the significant pressures on social care – with an extra £1 billion made available to alleviate this pressure in the year ahead.

    So this increases the Social Care Grant and the improved Better Care Fund. You can also make use of the 1% adult social care precept I just mentioned, in addition to the deferred precept flexibilities which have been rolled over from last year’s settlement.

    But please be in no doubt, we don’t underestimate the scale of support that the sector requires, especially as we start this decade-defining challenge of putting social care on a more sustainable footing.

    And it’s why, on top of this funding to address those core pressures, there’s also £162 million being made available to help you prepare for adult social care reform and ensuring the system is fit for future generations.

    Long-term future of the sector

    So in terms of the long-term future of our local government, our unequivocal ambition and Secretary of State will have told you this already – is to help councils – to help you – meet the challenges of today while planning for tomorrow’s opportunities. We don’t want you to always be in crisis mode, always being reactive.

    And that’s why we want to ensure that funding allocations are based on an up-to-date assessment of needs and resources.

    One challenge is that the data used to make this assessment has not been updated in several years – a lot of it is coming from 2013/14, nearly 10 years ago, and some even as far back as the turn of the millennium. I don’t want to say ‘pre-historic’ but it’s difficult to properly forecast using data that came before Windows XP!

    So, over the coming months, we will work closely with you and all our partners from across the sector to look at the many challenges and opportunities facing local government before consulting on potential reform in the spring.

    A key piece in this puzzle will be finding the right options to make sure that local authorities are supported through any change with transitional protection.

    So we also know that there is significant diversity across the sector, and that’s why we’re keen to hear your views and ensure that the unique circumstances of your local areas are fully understood. We’re not treating you as a homogenous block – that would be ridiculous. We have different needs and we want to know what we can do and as far as we can go in terms of tailoring the solutions to do what’s right for you.

    Conclusion

    It’s in that spirit of collaboration and partnership that we want to continue to work with you, bearing down on Omicron, plotting a clear course out of this pandemic and its one of the reasons why the local government finance settlement is never presented as a done deal. It’s always provisional until you’ve helped us make it final.

    I want to sincerely thank all of you who have taken part in the consultation on the provisional settlement. And for those who yet haven’t shared their views please do so today, deadline is 11:45pm. So, 15 minutes before midnight is when it closes. I can’t promise that I will be staying up quite that late to see your responses in person, but I really do want to hear your views and continue to work with you to put us on the best possible footing for this year.

    I will finish by saying that central government and local government are at their strongest when working together, united in purpose.

    And what we have accomplished over the last 2 years is nothing short of remarkable.

    So, this settlement – I believe – provides the strong foundations on which to go forward as we build a brighter future beyond COVID.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2021 Statement on Covid-19 Health Disparities

    Kemi Badenoch – 2021 Statement on Covid-19 Health Disparities

    The statement made by Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Levelling Up Communities, in the House of Commons on 3 December 2021.

    I am publishing today my final report on progress to address covid-19 health disparities among ethnic minority groups.

    When the Prime Minister asked me to lead this work in June 2020, we knew that ethnic minorities were more likely to become infected and to die from covid-19 but we did not know why. Thanks to analysis from the Government’s race disparity unit and new research backed by over £7 million in Government funding, we now have a much better understanding of the factors that have driven the higher infection and mortality rates among ethnic minority groups. These include occupation, living with children in multigenerational households, and living in densely-populated urban areas with poor air quality and higher levels of deprivation.

    We also know that once a person is infected, older age, male sex, and having a disability or a pre-existing health condition (such as diabetes) increase the risk of them dying from covid-19. Genetics may also play a role in survival rates from covid-19. 61% of south Asian people carry a gene which doubles the risk of respiratory failure and death from covid-19 in under-60-year-olds, compared with 16% of people of European ancestry.

    These insights have been crucial in shaping our response to covid-19.

    Early action, informed by the emerging data and scientific advice, focused on reducing the risk of infection and protecting key frontline workers who were most at risk, particularly our NHS workers. Our approach evolved as our understanding of the risk factors developed. For example, in the second wave of the pandemic, we published guidance on preventing household transmission, recognising that people from the Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups faced a higher risk of dying from covid-19 and are more likely to live in multigenerational households. We also piloted approaches where families could get jabbed together at vaccine sites to promote uptake in these groups.

    The most significant measure to protect ethnic minorities from the risk of covid-19 has been the vaccination programme. We led the way in terms of the scale of our programme to approve, procure and deploy the covid-19 vaccines. The largest mass-vaccination programme in British history has been delivered through an unprecedented partnership approach between citizens, national and local government, health agencies, and the voluntary and community sector. This has involved tackling misinformation and building trust with ethnic minority groups through measures such as housing vaccination centres in places of worship and providing over £23 million in funding to the community champion scheme, which has used trusted local voices to drive up vaccination rates. These learnings are informing our approach to the current roll-out of the booster programme to ensure we continue to drive up vaccination rates in ethnic minority groups.

    Through these combined efforts we have seen increases in both positive vaccine sentiment and vaccine uptake across all ethnic groups since vaccine deployment began.

    There are a number of wider public health lessons that we must learn from these experiences and these are reflected in the recommendations in my report, which the Prime Minister has accepted in full. These recommendations will still be applicable even as we see the emergence of new variants. Work on addressing covid-19 disparities will now be taken forward by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities as part of our longer-term strategy to tackle health disparities.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2021 Comments on Net Zero

    Kemi Badenoch – 2021 Comments on Net Zero

    The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Treasury Minister, on 4 August 2021.

    I was delighted to visit Severn Trent and see the innovation to stop pollution and deliver Net Zero is already taking place.

    They are also leading the way out of the pandemic by delivering their Green Recovery programme which supports their ambitious net zero plan by 2030 and creates new jobs and world-class training via the government’s Kickstart scheme.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2020 Comments on Pre-eclampsia

    Kemi Badenoch – 2020 Comments on Pre-eclampsia

    The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Minister for Equalities, on 12 November 2020.

    This year I returned from maternity leave after having my third child, so this is a topic that is very close to my heart.

    The UK is one of the safest places in the world to give birth and clinicians manage pre-eclampsia well. Seeking care before and throughout pregnancy is important and we want all women to have the access and confidence in this care the NHS provides. Particularly in a pandemic.

    Although maternal deaths are fortunately very rare, behind these tragic statistics, there are devastating consequences for families and children, so it is vital that we tackle this complex and concerning issue.