Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the pay gap between men and women working at UK Research and Innovation; and what steps he is taking to tackle that pay gap.

UKRI published its sixth Gender Pay Gap report in March 2025. The report describes the steps that UKRI is taking across the organisation, including developing inclusive recruitment and career progression strategies.

UKRI’s mean gender pay gap has narrowed by 0.6 percentage points since 2022. However, the most recent data shows that the gender pay gap widened by 0.7 percentage points in the last year. This change is largely driven by the 2022 pay award, which increased the salaries of employees in research delivery roles to address external pay market pressures. There is a higher proportion of male staff than female staff within this cohort compared to the wider UKRI employee population. Actions to address this disparity are set out in the report; these include reviewing recruitment and selection process to eliminate biases and ensuring that UKRI’s practices are fair and inclusive for all.