Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help increase socio-economic diversity in the leadership of (a) financial and (b) professional service companies.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy alongside HM Treasury commissioned the City of London Corporation to set up an industry led Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce in 2020. The report presented a powerful case for the benefits to business of such diversity and BEIS welcomes the recommendations of the report. BEIS has set up an action plan following the recommendations and will work with industry through the Professional & Business Services Council membership and other Government Departments to support progress.

BEIS will promote the recommendations through the Professional & Business Services Council Skills and Inclusion working group. This group is focused on access to skills, understanding future skills needs and career development for the sector including social mobility and economic diversity.