Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish the results of the consultation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on a mandatory approach to ethnicity pay reporting.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government ran a consultation from October 2018 to January 2019 on Ethnicity Pay Reporting and, we have met with businesses and representative organisations to understand the barriers towards reporting and what information could be published to allow for meaningful action to be taken. We have also run voluntary methodology testing with a broad range of businesses to better understand the complexities outlined in the consultation using real payroll data.
On the 14 June, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a new Commission on race and ethnic disparities which will examine continuing racial and ethnic inequalities in Britain and ways Government can address these and improve lives. Further information will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, and if so, when, they intend to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government ran a consultation from October 2018 to January 2019 on Ethnicity Pay Reporting and, we have met with businesses and representative organisations to understand the barriers towards reporting and what information could be published to allow for meaningful action to be taken. We have also run voluntary methodology testing with a broad range of businesses to better understand the complexities outlined in the consultation using real payroll data.
On the 14 June, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a new Commission on race and ethnic disparities which will examine continuing racial and ethnic inequalities in Britain and ways Government can address these and improve lives. Further information will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce legislation to address the ethnicity pay gap; and if so, when such legislation will be introduced.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Government ran a consultation from October 2018 to January 2019 on Ethnicity Pay Reporting and received over 300 detailed responses. BEIS Ministers and officials have met with businesses and representative organisations to understand the barriers towards reporting and what information could be published to allow for meaningful action to be taken. We have also run voluntary methodology testing with a broad range of businesses to better understand the complexities outlined in the consultation using real payroll data and will share next steps in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce the mandatory reporting of ethnicity pay gaps for companies operating in the UK.
Answered by Lord Henley
My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister committed to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay reporting and consulted on how to do so. We received over 300 detailed responses to the consultation. We are working with stakeholders to understand how best to take forward the proposals and will announce next steps in due course. We are also grateful for your continuing support in helping us progress this important agenda.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish the results of the consultation on ethnicity pay reporting, which closed on 11 January.
Answered by Lord Henley
My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister committed to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay reporting and consulted on how to do so. We received over 300 detailed responses to the consultation. We are working with stakeholders to understand how best to take forward the proposals and will announce next steps in due course. We are also grateful for your continuing support in helping us progress this important agenda.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the introduction of quotas for executive women in the workplace and for all BAME employees.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government is committed to working with the business community to create more inclusive workplaces from the shop floor to the boardroom. The Government commissioned and supports several business-led independent reviews, such as the Hampton-Alexander Review to increase the representation of women on boards and senior leadership positions in FTSE 350 companies to 33% by 2020 and the Parker Review to increase the ethnic diversity of FTSE 350 boards by 2024.
These reviews form part of the Government’s modern Industrial Strategy which aims to build an economy that works for all.
This business-led approach is working, with, for example, the representation of women on FTSE 100 boards rising to 30.9% from 12.5% in 2011.
Government agreed with my Noble friend’s recommendation that companies should set and publish aspirational diversity targets; and committed to lead from the front in the public sector. In June 2018 we published targets for the Civil Service to tackle the under-representation of ethnic minority staff in our most senior roles. If successful, we will approximately double the current proportion of new recruits from an ethnic minority to 13.2% by 2025.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the recommendations of the report Race in the Workplace.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Following the approach we set out in the Government response, we have been working with Business in the Community in supporting companies to make the necessary changes to make their workplaces more inclusive. This includes the development of a simple guide on how to discuss race in the workplace, ensuring easy access to an online portal of best practice and celebrating success through a list of the top 100 BME employers.
We also intend that the new Diversity and Inclusion Group will provide a forum to discuss progress as well as identify emerging issues and opportunities, and provide a sounding board for new ideas. This will be chaired by a BEIS Minister, and bring together key business leaders. We are delighted that the noble lady has agreed to be part of the group.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
Her Majesty's Government whether they have published, or intend to publish, plans that show the long-term outlook for each industry in the UK post-Brexit, in particular the services industries.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government is committed to securing a new, deep and special partnership with the EU to support the long-term success of UK industry post-Brexit.
The Government has already taken the opportunity to publish the Industrial Strategy Green Paper which builds on our strengths and prepares us for the years ahead. Part of our approach is to use “sector deals” to transform and upgrade sectors based on proposals from industry. These sector deals will be open to all parts of the economy, established and emerging sectors, and to businesses of all sizes.
The Government is currently analysing the responses to its Green Paper and will publish the outcome in due course.
Asked by: Baroness McGregor-Smith (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the UK’s energy supply was produced from fossil fuels in each year between 1997 and 2015.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The proportion of the UK’s energy supply produced from fossil fuels in each year between 1997 and 2015 is shown in the table.
Year | Proportion (%) |
1997 | 88.1 |
1998 | 88.3 |
1999 | 88.6 |
2000 | 89.9 |
2001 | 89.6 |
2002 | 89.5 |
2003 | 89.8 |
2004 | 90.2 |
2005 | 89.9 |
2006 | 90.1 |
2007 | 91.2 |
2008 | 91.2 |
2009 | 88.9 |
2010 | 89.5 |
2011 | 87.3 |
2012 | 87.1 |
2013 | 85.8 |
2014 | 84.3 |
2015 | 82.0 |
Data are published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in the Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2016, table 1.1.1.