Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether his Department plans to establish the new Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement as an arm’s length body.

The government is committed to strengthening equal pay and ending pay discrimination. As part of this, we will establish an Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit.

In April, we launched a call for evidence on a number of areas of equality policy, including this commitment. We will consider the views from the call for evidence to understand the challenges and find the appropriate solutions to equal pay enforcement.

We are holding this call for evidence (which closes on 30 June 2025) while policy is at a formative stage in order to enable businesses, trade unions, civil society and others to share their knowledge and experiences. Officials in the Office for Equality and Opportunity will continue to engage with a wide range of stakeholders as this policy develops.