No one, regardless of where they live, should ever experience such heinous crimes. The Government are absolutely committed to supporting all victims and survivors. My Department, through the Hampshire police and crime commissioner, provides my hon. Friend’s local area with core grant funding to support victims of all crime types, including sexual assault. In addition, we provide ringfenced funding for domestic and sexual abuse services.
I thank the Minister for her answer. On the Isle of Wight, the absence of a sexual assault referral centre means that survivors of rape and sexual assault are often required to make a long ferry journey to Portsmouth or Southampton—sometimes in the very clothes they were assaulted in—to access the specialist support they need. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can finally address and overcome that injustice faced by women and girls on the Isle of Wight?
My hon. Friend is a tireless champion for tackling violence against women and girls. Ensuring that victims receive the right, timely support is central to the Government’s strategy to tackle these heinous crimes. I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that. I will ensure that we have a joined-up approach with the Department of Health and Social Care to better understand the experiences of women and girls on the Isle of Wight who need help.
As the Minister said, sexual assault survivors from the Isle of Wight and all across the United Kingdom must be heard. Virginia Giuffre took her life just one year ago. She had shared her abuse by convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, the friend of Peter Mandelson. On 16 April, Lisa Phillips—another courageous survivor—supported by Carly and Sam from the Sexual Predator Accountability Institute, came to Parliament seeking transparency from lawmakers. The clear question for the Government is: when will they go from giving platitudes to victims to tackling trafficking and cover-ups and delivering adequate support and justice for all women and girls?
I welcome the shadow Minister’s question. She will know that this Government are putting victims back at the heart of our criminal justice system by investing the biggest ever settlement—over half a billion pounds—in victim support services for the next three years. I had the privilege of meeting the victims she mentioned. Of course, they remain at the forefront of my mind and the Government’s mind, which is why we are working with them and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to ensure a joined-up approach to take their concerns seriously without prejudicing any sub judice issues that may come about.
We are committed to supporting autistic people into work. Our supported employment programme Connect to Work will be open throughout England and Wales by the summer. It has in its supported employment quality framework a specialist pathway for neurodivergent people and those with a learning disability.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I recently chaired an employment roundtable with the all-party parliamentary group on autism where individuals with lived experience highlighted that a significant barrier to employment is a fear factor among some employers. That stems from a concern about getting it wrong when recruiting or supporting autistic employees, which can result in employers opting out of recruiting them altogether. Will the Minister outline what steps the Government are taking to address that fear factor and incentivise employers to recruit people with autism?
I commend my hon. Friend’s important work as chair of the all-party group and thank her for hosting me at the roundtable. This year, we funded ACAS to deliver masterclasses on recruiting neurodivergent people to 1,800 small and medium-sized enterprise representatives, addressing exactly the concerns that she raised. My Department has also set up the online support with employer health and disability service specifically to help employers on those issues. We will be considering what more we can do.
Conservative-run East Sussex county council has shut down its CLASS+ service, which supported people with autism towards independent futures, including with employment. With elections for East Sussex county council just around the corner, does the Minister agree that we should be expanding services to support autistic people into work and not shutting them down as the Conservatives are doing?
I am sorry to hear about what has happened in the hon. Member’s constituency, and I very much agree with him. We recently received the report of our expert academic panel on neurodiversity in the workplace, which was set up last year, and are carefully considering its recommendations. We will act as he suggested.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Olivia Bailey)
LabourReading West and Mid Berkshire
Conversion practices tell people that their identity is wrong, that it can be changed, and that they should be subjected to physical and emotional abuse to change it. These acts are abusive, they are abhorrent, and the Government will outlaw them as soon as possible.
As the Minister says, conversion therapy is dangerous, widely discredited and frankly barbaric, and it is about time we got rid of it. Suffolk Pride’s fringe festival starts next month with Pride Blooms. I ask the Minister to make a powerful statement today, and to say that this terrible practice will end under the Labour Government.
My hon. Friend is right. Conversion practices are dangerous, discredited and abusive, and I can make a commitment to everyone taking part in Suffolk Pride that this Labour Government will ban them. I am working on legislation as a matter of urgency; I know how important it is for the community, and we will publish draft legislation as soon as possible.