Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Summer Budget 2015 has an equal impact on men and women.

In line with both the Government’s commitment to fairness and its legal obligations, ministers carefully considered the policy implications for men and women when developing and deciding upon Summer Budget measures.

As with other public sector bodies, HM Treasury is required (under the Equality Act 2010) to pay due regard, in the course of fulfilling its functions, to the implications of its decisions for those with specified ‘protected characteristics’. ‘Sex’ is one of these protected characteristics.