Gender Pay Gap

Debate between Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist and Baroness Williams of Trafford

Tuesday 5th March 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I take the noble Baroness’s final point, and I will have a look at the 2011 report. I must apologise that, as there was a strange noise coming from behind the noble Baroness—it might have been someone’s mobile phone—I did not quite hear all of her question. As to the position getting worse not better, the figures on 4 April will be revealing, and the sort of action that we and others will need to take will certainly be guided by those results.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

Does my noble friend the Minister agree that plans to require all large companies to publish their parental leave and pay policies will improve transparency and ultimately help with the gender pay balance in the workplace?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

All those initiatives by companies help to shed light on the types of companies that are employing people; their ethical, gender-based policies and parental leave are only a part of that. As to flexible working, the Government are trying to go further in enabling anyone who wants to work flexibly to be able to do so.