Gender Pay Gap Debate

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Department: Home Office

Gender Pay Gap

Tom Pursglove Excerpts
Thursday 4th April 2019

(4 years, 11 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Victoria Atkins Portrait Victoria Atkins
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Of course, that is a matter for the House, but I make this observation. I spend a great deal of my time persuading women to take the big step of coming into public life. I think the attitude and atmosphere in Parliament at the moment is putting a lot of women off—it is pretty toxic. The predictability, or unpredictability, of Commons hours can also cause problems—my little boy started his holidays this week, and I had a bit of an “about-to” this morning trying to sort out childcare—but we will address this. We have to ensure that the Commons is more flexible in how it works so that we can encourage people from across our society to join us.

Tom Pursglove Portrait Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)
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Looking back at last year’s publication, what lessons were learned going into this year’s process?

Victoria Atkins Portrait Victoria Atkins
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First, I think businesses realise that if they do not do as the public expect them to, they will face a great deal of public scrutiny and reputational damage. One employer, for example, did not include its partnership figures in its return. The public spotted that and called it out; and, in fairness to that employer, it revised its figures to include the partnerships. That sort of transparency and scrutiny will help businesses to comply with the law.