Business of the House

Guy Opperman Excerpts

Thursday 1st December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Hon. Members]

Hear, hear!

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Speaker; I shall try to be worth the wait.

In Northumberland, hundreds of women have outstanding equal pay claims that some Opposition Members and I are trying to persuade the local authority to resolve. Please may we have a debate in the House on the issue of equal pay for women, past and future, and what the Government are trying to do about it?

[Sir George Young]

The Government are keen to address the injustice of unequal pay between men and women. In 2009, there was a gap of some 16.4% between men’s and women’s pay. We are working with employers to encourage voluntary non-legislative action to improve transparency on pay and on equality more generally.