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

Debate between Lord Shinkwin and Lord Johnson of Lainston

Thursday 29th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Johnson of Lainston (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, very much for those comments. It is absolutely right that the expected deficit of underutilisation of all groups in this economy is between £20 billion and £30 billion. I draw attention to the fact that 32 of the 74 measures in Inclusive Britain that we put into place have been achieved or are in motion. A huge amount of work is being done to encourage right entry into workplaces following graduation, entrepreneurship, changes in bank lending policies, fundamental mentoring policies and money being put into scholarship programmes. I completely agree with the noble Baroness’s points. This is very much a focus for the Government, and my Secretary of State, Kemi Badenoch, sees it as one of her core priorities.

[Lord Shinkwin (Con)]

My Lords, the introduction of mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting is the number one recommendation from the Institute of Directors’ commission, which I chair, in The Future of Business: Harnessing Diverse Talent For Success. The director-general and I wrote to the Prime Minister last November, and we are still waiting for a response. I ask my noble friend to encourage No. 10 to reply to our recommendations and avoid giving the impression that this is not an important issue.