Women: Board Membership

Lord Pearson of Rannoch Excerpts

Monday 17th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Northover]

My noble friend is quite right that the Government, and indeed wider society, should encourage businesses to look at this and to recognise their own self-interest in the 21st century.

[Lord Pearson of Rannoch]

My Lords—

[Baroness Gould of Potternewton]

My Lords—

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Hill of Oareford)]

My Lords, I think there is time for both if we have the noble Lord, Lord Pearson, very quickly and then Labour.

[Lord Pearson of Rannoch]

My Lords, as a supporter of women on boards, I have to ask whether we really need the edict from Brussels which—

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Pearson of Rannoch]

Noble Lords may not be aware of it, but it would make them mandatory. Can the noble Baroness tell us how the so-called “yellow card” issued by your Lordships’ House and seven other EU Houses of Parliament against that edict is progressing? Is subsidiarity winning or losing as usual on this one?

[Baroness Northover]

The directive that is potentially coming from the EU is a useful discipline. We need British business to demonstrate that it does not need to be applied in the United Kingdom because we have already made sufficient progress.