Oliver Colvile
Main Page: Oliver Colvile (Conservative - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)Department Debates - View all Oliver Colvile's debates with the Attorney General
(8 years, 4 months ago)
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Caroline Nokes
I thank the hon. Lady for her welcome.
What we have seen from the reforms that the Government have made is that women of her age and my age are doing more now to save for their future than ever before. It is really important to reflect that some of the previous arrangements dated back to the 1940s. The world has moved on an incredible amount since that time and, I would argue, absolutely for the better.
Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con)
4. What steps the Government have taken to increase numbers of women in senior executive roles.
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)
5. What steps the Government have taken to increase numbers of women in senior executive roles.
Justine Greening
Yes, I do. We will need to take some steps, but so far the proposal of working voluntarily with business has seen some real progress, including a doubling of women on boards in the FTSE 350, from 9.5% in 2010, when the coalition Government came to office, to 22% now. The number of all male boards has also dropped from 152 in 2011 to 15 today. We have more to do, but I fully expect and hope that we can meet that ambitious, achievable target by 2020.
Oliver Colvile
May I congratulate those on the Front Bench on the fantastic representation of women there? As my right hon. Friend the Minister knows, Plymouth University is taking the lead, in that half its board of governors are women. What is her Department doing to ensure more women are in senior leadership roles in universities?
Justine Greening
I should start by congratulating Plymouth University on making fantastic progress. I have been delighted to see that the latest “WomenCount” report on higher education—which the Government supported—showed that a third of governing bodies are now gender balanced. It is good that we now have a new code of governance in force, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England has also set an aspirational target for 40% of women on governing bodies. An Athena SWAN charter mark has also been embraced as a sector standard, which I strongly support.