Equal Pay

Baroness Prosser Excerpts

Monday 11th February 2019 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Prosser]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to amend the Equality Act 2010 in relation to equal pay.

[The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of Trafford) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government remain fully committed to the equal pay protections in the Equality Act 2010 and to the fundamental principle of equal pay for equal work.

[Baroness Prosser (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for that reply. It is disappointing, but not surprising. We were all pleased with the measures taken by the Government last year to require employers of more than 250 people to make public their gender pay gaps. We welcomed that information because it gave us a picture of where the problems lay, but will we simply receive it as though there is nothing more that can be done?

Change will not come about by osmosis. Action will have to be taken. For a start, the law could require companies to break down the data to give us a better picture by age, ethnicity and so forth. Plus, the Government could legislate to require employers to develop positive action programmes—maybe establishing women-only training schemes, for example—or to provide more decent-quality part-time jobs. Will the Minister consider such initiatives as those, which would help to close the gender pay gap and bring the Equal Pay Act into the 21st century?