Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of mandating socioeconomic background reporting for all employers with over 250 employees.

The Department has not undertaken any such assessment. Companies are already required to disclose employee matters and can choose to include socioeconomic aspects where relevant to their business. For example, all large companies in the UK must include information on employees as part of their Annual Report’s Section 172(1) Statement. This should detail how employees are consulted, and their views considered, in decision making, ensuring employees of all backgrounds feel involved in how the company is run. It is a matter of good practice to collect data on employee background that the company can choose to communicate its workforce inclusivity.