Moved by
That the Bill do now pass.
(LD)
My Lords, taking this Bill through your Lordships’ House has been
somewhat of a challenge, but I am delighted to see the finishing
post coming up—for this House anyway—until it wends its way back
to the Commons and the final hurdle under the sure guidance of
the honourable Lady, the Member for Bath. I am grateful to
everyone who has worked so hard to bring the Bill to this stage,
which has necessitated a great deal of pragmatism and compromise
on all sides, not least by the Minister.
The Bill will not return to the Commons as it was when it first
arrived in your Lordships’ House but, in essence, it will still
protect workers from sexual harassment and it will impose a duty
on employers to take reasonable steps to ensure that their
employees are protected. Sexual harassment and assault in the
workplace, particularly on women at all levels—even, we learn
today, on female surgeons—are rife. The Bill will go some way
towards rectifying this. We need a change of workplace culture,
and this Bill will make a good start.
I thank all Members who have participated in the Bill, including
the Minister, the officers of the Government Equalities Office
and my legislative adviser, Mohamed-Ali Souidi. The EHRC has also
given us excellent advice and will be charged with enforcing the
new duty and helping and advising employers. On behalf of the
EHRC, I ask the Minister to ensure that the necessary resources
are made available to enable it to do this work. An Act is just a
piece of paper until and unless it is properly enforced—in this
case, that will be no small job. I look forward with great relief
to now waving the Bill goodbye for its final stages in the other
place.
(Lab)
My Lords, I express my sincere thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady
Burt, for all the work she has put in, and thank the Minister for
her support in the passage of this Bill through the House. The
Bill represents an excellent step in the right direction.
Clearly, we still have much to do. I also echo the sentiments and
hope that the Government will move forward on this and will
provide the necessary resources to make sure that all the
provisions can be fully implemented.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Levelling Up, Housing & Communities () (Con)
My Lords, I sincerely thank the noble Baroness, Lady Burt of
Solihull, for her work in taking this important Bill through the
House. The noble Baroness has been patient and has shown great
pragmatism—I think we have used that word a few times—in the
progression of this Bill to help tackle workplace harassment. It
is an honour to be here to confirm the Government’s ongoing
support. We believe it is important that everyone feels safe and
able to thrive in the workplace.
The noble Baroness asked me how the EHRC will enforce the new
duty—that is important. The EHRC’s regulatory approach for any
new duty will include producing a statutory code of practice
based on its current technical guidance in the area and a
mechanism for employees and employee representatives to be able
to notify the EHRC of breaches and potential breaches of the
preventative duty. It will also be able to use powers under the
Equality Act 2006 to undertake strategic litigation,
investigation and enforcement activity to target systematic
non-compliance with the preventative duty, in accordance with the
litigation and enforcement policy. On how that will be funded, I
will write to the noble Baroness.
The Bill will help the Government to deliver their commitment to
introduce the employer duty as part of the violence against women
and girls strategy. The employer duty will send a strong signal
to employers that they need to take action to prioritise
prevention of sexual harassment and, ultimately, to improve
workplace practices and culture. I thank all noble Lords and
organisations who raised important issues in the debates and
discussions throughout the Bill’s progression through the House.
I believe this Bill now strikes the right balance between
protecting free speech and tackling harassment. While there has
been much debate and amendments have been made to the Bill, I
think we can all agree that workers should feel safe and be free
from sexual harassment in the workplace. Therefore, I hope the
Bill can progress with the full support of the House today.
Bill passed and returned to the Commons with amendments.
