Employment Gap: Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, and White, Workforce

Debate between Lord Johnson of Lainston and Baroness Burt of Solihull

Thursday 29th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Johnson of Lainston (Con)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his point. I will certainly encourage a response, and I appreciate the comment.

[Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD)]

My Lords, while government guidance is very welcome, does the Minister accept that the only way to close the ethnicity pay gap is to make reporting mandatory for businesses and companies with over 250 employees, and that we can address this disparity only when we really know the true scale of the problem?

[Lord Johnson of Lainston (Con)]

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for her comment. As this House will be aware, a deep consultation was undertaken to see what would be the most effective way to ensure that those gaps were narrowed. Since 2012, the gap has narrowed from 5.1% to 2.3% in median hourly pay, but it has very much been felt that, because of the complexities of measuring ethnicity pay gap differentials, particularly in smaller companies of 500 employees or fewer, it would produce data that would not be valid and helpful. Instead, we have introduced a series of voluntary measures and a great deal of training and guidance, which we believe will have the intended outcomes.