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Jobs for the Girls: Two Years On

We are not planning a draft Bill. There has been a lot of consultation on this issue, and we want to get on and do it. I acknowledge that there may be complications and difficulties—there always has been on every Bill that I have been involved with—but I am sure that we will find a way through. We want to get on with it. The Government have listened carefully to the arguments made by the Select Committee and others that appropriate bodies should be able to bring representative actions on behalf of groups of individuals in discrimination cases. We need to co-ordinate action on that proposal in the light of work taking place across Government in respect of other courts and administrative tribunals. We will consider carefully the results of the work being undertaken by the Civil Justice Council, which is examining the issue in other contexts. It is assessing the case for representative actions, and we will take decisions in the light of that. We are certainly considering the issue seriously. We have all been alluding to transparency, if not talking directly about it. My right hon. and learned Friend the Minister for Women and Equality explained to the Select Committee when giving evidence that we cannot tackle inequality if we cannot see it and how it is working in particular places. The Bill proposes to prohibit an employer from taking any action against any person who chooses to disclose their pay to a colleague, so we will get rid of secrecy clauses. In addition, we are proposing that, under the public sector equality duty, public authorities should publish important equality information about their work force, including the gender pay gap. That will aid transparency and enable us to shine a light into the dark corners where lights need to be shone. We will work with business and trade unions to encourage private sector employers also to be transparent about their progress on equality. There is no reason why they should not respond positively to that. As hon. Members have said, businesses increasingly recognise the advantages that can be gained from improving performance on equality so that they can attract and retain the best talent, so there is no reason why we should not be able to make progress on that. We are exploring a range of other legislative and non-legislative options for furthering equality outcomes through the power of procurement. The Government spend £160 billion a year—that is the latest figure I saw—on procuring things. There is no reason why that should not be used to help to deal with some of the issues that we have been discussing. We are examining ways of doing that, and the Bill will take some steps in that regard. A lot has been said about occupational segregation, and I ought to say something about that. It accounts for a significant proportion of the gender pay gap, but also constitutes a loss to the economy. That was identified by the women and work commission in its 2006 report, which estimated that removing barriers to women working in non-traditional areas and increasing women's labour market participation could be worth more than £15 billion to the economy. We would all acknowledge that that is something worth pursuing. Following our work to implement the recommendations of the women and work commission, we are building on a number of the recommendations to tackle occupational segregation. For example, we announced this year that we were extending the women and work sector pathways initiative beyond the period covered by the recommendations in the original report. We have committed £5 million a year over the next three years to the initiative, which will mean that up to 15,000 women receive assistance that aims to help them to secure a new job, a more senior position or higher pay. That support is targeted in sectors and occupations where there are skills shortages or where women are under-represented. That type of targeted action can make a real difference by providing role models and giving real opportunities to women who perhaps have not had chances in the past because of occupational segregation. That should receive widespread support from hon. Members on both sides of the House, and I am sure that it will. We have now reconvened the women and work commission to assess the progress in implementing and building on the recommendations that it originally made. We look forward to seeing the result of its investigations next spring. I shall finish by saying how valuable and how welcome the Select Committee's report has been and how much the Government welcome the ongoing debate on this issue. We hope to develop as much consensus as possible about the way to deal with the issues of gender inequality to ensure that, at last, we start to close the gender pay gap. Question put and agreed to.