Business of the House

Kirsten Oswald Excerpts

Thursday 23rd February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving all of us in this House the opportunity to thank all those organisations and the individuals behind them who are doing so much. We sometimes forget that those organisations have to adapt services. We all wish that the Ukraine war will be brought to an end swiftly. The needs of people who have been here for coming up to a year are quite different from when they first arrived; those organisations are constantly listening and adapting their service and offer. I am incredibly proud of them and everything our communities are doing to support not just Ukraine but many other places around the world where people are fleeing terror and war.

[Kirsten Oswald (East Renfrewshire) (SNP)]

Today, 23 February, marks 54 days since the beginning of the year. It is the day on which women, on average, will find that they start being paid, because the gender pay gap between women and men currently sits at nearly 15%. A TUC study shows that the gender pay gap widens dramatically after women have children. It identifies that flexible working, including making family and caring leave work more effectively, is key to changing that. Presumably an employment Bill would be really helpful in changing the situation, but the Government are singularly unwilling to go down that road and put the focus on fairer work, as the Scottish Government have done. Can we have a debate in Government time on why fairer work matters, why the gender pay gap matters, and what can be done to ensure that this is changed once and for all?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Lady raises a very important point. I penned the gender equality road map for this Government, which looks at the impact, at every stage of a woman’s life, of the inequalities women face. We have introduced many measures off the back of that road map. The hon. Lady will know that we have recently been focusing on carers, and ensuring that they have more flexibility in their work. We are also focussed on ensuring people have the right to flexible working. If the hon. Lady wants to improve the situation in Scotland, then Scotland has all the powers it needs to do that.