Oral Answers to Questions

Theresa May Excerpts

Thursday 10th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con)]

1. What recent assessment she has made of the propensity of (a) men and (b) women to start new businesses.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department and Minister for Women and Equalities (Mrs Theresa May)]

If women in the UK set up businesses at the same rate as men, we would have 150,000 new start-ups each year. If women in the UK showed the same level of entrepreneurship as women in the United States, we would have 600,000 more women-owned businesses in the UK, which would contribute around £42 billion to our economy. It is therefore obvious that we need to make the best use of all the talents available in the economy.

[Harriett Baldwin]

The new enterprise allowance scheme, which is delivered through Jobcentre Plus, is an excellent innovation to help people who want to start their own businesses. Will the Minister ensure that both women and men are told about this excellent scheme?

[Mrs May]

Indeed. The new enterprise allowance scheme is an important scheme that has been introduced to enable people who are unemployed to set up their own businesses, and we will certainly ensure that it is made available to both women and men. I also announced last week that we would be recruiting an additional 5,000 mentors for the women’s enterprise scheme, to encourage and help women in the vital first steps of setting up their own businesses.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

Has the Minister seen today’s PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which shows that the discrepancy between north and south is being widened by Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government policies? Given that women find it difficult to get into the employment market in the first place, what steps will she take to ensure that women in Wales, the north-west, the north-east, Yorkshire and Humberside have an opportunity to get into employment?

[Mrs May]

It is this coalition Government who have introduced the regional growth fund, which is actively ensuring that money is available in the various regions of the United Kingdom, to help ensure growth and prosperity across the whole of the United Kingdom.

[Lorely Burt (Solihull) (LD)]

The case for encouraging women-owned businesses is clearly made. This Government have made great strides to encourage small businesses through their aspiration to ensure that 25% of Government spending on procurement goes to small businesses. Can we now consider the possibility of extending that to women-owned businesses, which would obviously have a great benefit for business and the economy?

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend is right, in that the Government are actively using their procurement power to encourage small businesses and make it easier for them to apply for Government contracts. She makes an interesting point about positive action in relation to women-owned business. This is something that has been done elsewhere—for example, the United States—and we will look at the experience in those places.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

Support to start businesses is all very well, but the regional growth fund is substantially smaller than the funding available from the regional development agencies, while Labour’s Aspire fund, which supported women-led businesses in obtaining finance, has been put on hold by Ministers. With cuts to help with child care costs, Sure Start services closing and family budgets under pressure, does the Minister not think that the Government need to do far more to support business and working women?

[Mrs May]

We have announced 5,000 mentors to help women to start up their own businesses, and we will also be establishing a women’s business council. We are doing things to help women in the workplace that go far beyond what the last Labour Government did. The right to request flexible working for all and the introduction of flexible parental leave will make a real difference to women’s lives.

[Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (Con)]

2. What her policy is on reducing (a) forced marriages and (b) honour killings; and if she will make a statement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Eleanor Laing (Epping Forest) (Con)]

6. What steps the Government are taking to encourage corporate boards to have a more representative proportion of women.

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department and Minister for Women and Equalities (Mrs Theresa May)]

The Government are continuing to work with business and others to ensure that the recommendations set out by Lord Davies in March this year are implemented effectively. Cranfield university presented a report to the Prime Minister three weeks ago, which showed that steady progress is being made to increase female board representation. The rate at which women are being appointed to FTSE boards has doubled and the number of all-male boards has almost halved since 2010.

[Mrs Laing]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer. The House will warmly welcome the enormous progress made in recent times. In particular, we welcome the Davies report, but will my right hon. Friend agree that this is not just a matter of an abstract idea about equality for the sake of equality. Lord Davies cites a report by McKinsey which states:

“Companies with more women on their boards were found to out-perform their rivals with a 42% higher return in sales, 66% higher return on invested capital and 53% higher return on equity.”

Having women involved is also good for business.

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. There has been progress. We know that there are now only 12 all-male boards within the FTSE 100, down from 21 in 2010. We know that women have made up an increasing percentage of the directors appointed to FTSE 100 companies since Lord Davies’s report. The point she makes is absolutely right: having women on boards is not just a women’s issue; it is about the state of the economy, and it makes good business sense.

[Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)]

But is the Minister for Women and Equalities aware that of the last 93 appointments only 21 were women, and that the Cranfield school of management has said that two thirds of companies have ignored what the Government have said. Do we not need more than a nudge and wink, and to have some more positive action?

[Mrs May]

I am sorry that the hon. Lady could not bring herself to welcome the progress made on this issue since Lord Davies’s report. We are adopting the approach of encouragement and working with businesses. I think that is the best way to change attitudes in the longer term. We have already seen from the work done in Australia that the significant increase in the number of women on boards can be achieved without having to go down the route of quotas.

[Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)]

Given the clear benefit to the whole community of having a much more diverse corporate management in both the private and the public sectors, will my right hon. Friend look at having a common reporting date annually for the private and public sectors on the diversity of their boards? Could we follow that, in association with the House business managers, with a debate here so that we can keep the pressure up and everyone in the country can see the comparative position annually?

[Mrs May]

My right hon. Friend has made an interesting suggestion. He highlights the importance of transparency in encouraging action in this area. That is indeed why we have developed the “think, act, report” programme for companies to sign up to. It encourages them not just to look at what is happening on gender diversity and the gender pay gap in their workplace, but to act on it and then, crucially, report on it because we believe it is that transparency that makes a difference.