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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of women from black and minority ethnic backgrounds at the highest level of business.

The Government is committed to working with business to achieve inclusive and diverse workplaces and supporting the independent, business-led diversity reviews in this area – the Hampton-Alexander Review (FTSE Women Leaders) and the Parker Review (Ethnic Minorities on Boards) - that have set ambitious targets for FTSE350 companies. The Hampton-Alexander Review aims for women to hold at least 33% of senior leadership and board positions by 2020. The Parker Review is campaigning for FTSE100 boards to have at least one director “of colour” by 2021, and FTSE250 boards to have the same by 2024.

We have seen the representation of women on FTSE100 boards rise from 12.5% in 2011 to 31.4% today, and on FTSE350 boards from 9.5% to 28%; and all-male boards in the FTSE350 have gone down from 152 to 2 in the same period. These reviews form part of the Government’s modern Industrial Strategy which aims to build an economy that works for all.

Additionally, the Government published its response to the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship in March. The Rose Review shed light on the barriers faced by women starting and growing businesses, including: lower access to finance; a perceived lack of skills and experience; disproportionate childcare responsibilities; different risk appetite; and a lack of sponsorship and role models.

The Government has announced an ambition to increase the number of female entrepreneurs by half by 2030, equivalent to nearly 600,000 additional female entrepreneurs, and HM Treasury is working with UK Finance to establish a new Code, Investing in Women, that will see banks and other financial institutions adopt a set of best practices that will benefit female business owners across the country. This work complements ongoing wider initiatives to address gender imbalances, like tackling the gender pay gap (at a record low), the Women in Finance Charter, and the Government’s forthcoming Gender Equality and Economic Empowerment Strategy.