On 8 October, Anne met with Ministers Harriet Harman and Barbara Follett, to discuss what the Government has done for women in the past ten years.

Such advancements include:

Help caring for children…

• Since 1997, we’ve more than doubled the number of registered childcare places to over 1.29 million

• By March 2007, we had opened 1,106 Sure Start centres, which were providing services to around 880,000 children and their families

• All three and four year olds are now guaranteed a free, part-time Government-funded, early education place

• By 2010, there will be an out of school childcare place for all children aged between3 and 14, between the hours of 8am to 6pm each weekday

Help with family finances…

• As of December 2006, around six million families – and 10 million children – were benefiting from tax credits

• In 1997, Government financial support for families, including Statutory Maternity Pay, was worth £2,600 in the child’s first year. From April 2007, it will be worth more than £8,000

• The Working Tax Credit helps working parents cover up to 80 per cent of the cost of paying for childcare, up to a maximum of £175 a week for one child and £300 a week for two or more children

In the workplace …

• The employment rate for women has risen from 42% in 1971 to 70% today

• When the adult National Minimum Wage was increased on October 1, 2006 to £5.35, two-thirds of those who benefited from the rise were women

• The Government has recently launched an Action Plan following up the Women andWork Commission recommendations, which aims to further reduce the gender pay and opportunities gap by improving the prospects and career options of girls at school and women in work

Help balancing work and family responsibilities…

Flexible working

• Since April 2003, employees who have children with disabilities, or children under the age of six, have had the right to ask for flexible working arrangements

• Almost a quarter of parents with children under the age of 6 have requested to work flexibly since the right to request was introduced

• From April 2007, carers of adults will also be given the right to ask for flexible working arrangements

Improved pay and rights for parents

• Since 1997, Statutory Maternity Pay has gone up from 18 weeks to 39 weeks, for anyone adopting a child or having a baby on or after April 1, 2007

• We have also increased the fl at rate for maternity pay, up from £55.70 in 1997 to £112. 75 a week from April 2007, doubled in 10 years

• In 2003 introduced paid paternity leave for the first time

• Fathers will soon have a new right to take up to 26 weeks Additional Paternity Leave before their child’s first birthday, to allow mothers to return to work early should they wish to

• The changes to maternity pay and leave will benefit around 400,000 new mums every year

• Part-time workers and people on fixed term contracts now have the same rights as people in full-time work

In public life …

• After the last election, a record number of women entered parliament – 126 in the House of Commons, and 142 in the House of Lords

• We have introduced positive measures to allow for more women candidates and established a new Commission to improve the diversity of local authority governors

• Women currently hold 35.6% of public appointments overall, up from 32% in 1997

In the home …

• In November 2004, the Government introduced the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act, which was the biggest overhaul of domestic violence legislation for 30 years

Since then, the Government has also:

• Produced cross-government national domestic violence delivery plans

• Established a prostitution strategy

• Expanded the Domestic Violence Courts System, which numbered 64 courts in February 2007, conviction rates have shot up to 71% in these specialist courts

• Announced an additional £1.85 million to help increase the number of action teams across England and Wales who tackle domestic violence. The money will allow the 40 Multi-AgencyRisk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) that have already been set up to continue operating and support training for a further 60 by March next year

• We have invested £32 million for refuges, which we hope will significantly improve the number and quality of refuge places available

Health and Well Being

• Since 1997 the number of cancer specialists has increased by almost 50% and now nearly two-thirds of women with newly diagnosed breast cancer are likely to survive for at least 20 years

• Over 99% of patients with suspected cancer are now seen by a specialist with 2 weeks of being referred by their GP, compared to 63% in 1997

• In 2006 we launched a new sexual health campaign to tackle acute sexually transmitted infections

• Due to investment in services teenage pregnancy is at its the lowest in 20 years

In retirement …

• Nearly two thirds of the poorest pensioners are women. To tackle pensioner poverty,the Government has introduced the Pension Credit, which has helped to lift more than two million pensioners – most of them women – out of absolute poverty

• On November 29, 2006, the Government published the Pensions Bill, which contains a numberof reforms to the pension system that will enable more women to build up a State Pension in their own right

• The new State Pension scheme will also recognise women’s parenting and caring contributions, and credit them accordingly

• As a result of these reforms, almost half a million extra women will be entitled to a full basic state pension in 202