Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage companies to increase diversity in senior leadership roles, particularly in relation to (1) ethnic minorities, and (2) women.

The Department for Business and Trade sponsors two voluntary and business-led initiatives: the FTSE Women Leaders Review and the Parker Review on ethnic minority leadership. Both reviews encourage companies to achieve voluntary targets - 40% representation of women on boards and in senior management, and at least one ethnic minority director on company boards.

The 2024 report showed that 42.1% of the FTSE 350 board members were women behind only France who has adopted a quota approach to diversity and ahead of other countries with quotas. The 2024 Parker review reported that 77% of boards FTSE 350 boards had met their target.