Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the Government’s policies on extending equal pay rights as set out in the policy paper entitled Next Steps to Make Work Pay, published on 8 November 2024, on the cost to local authorities of (a) salaries and (b) legal settlements for people from ethnic minorities.

The government is committed to strengthening equal pay and ending pay discrimination.

Through planned legislation, we will make the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minority and disabled people. We will also put in place measures to ensure that outsourcing of services can no longer be used by employers to avoid paying equal pay, and we will implement a regulatory and enforcement unit for equal pay.

As we progress these measures, we will work in partnership with employers, trade unions and civil society and carefully consider their economic and social impact, including on employers, workers and the public sector. An equality impact assessment will be conducted as part of this.