Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) mitigate pay gaps, and (2) promote fair compensation practices, within large companies.

We are committed to reducing unfair pay disparities and ensuring everyone is able to succeed in their career.

Under this Government the gender pay gap has narrowed significantly, having fallen by approximately a quarter in the last decade. In 2017, we introduced regulations requiring large employers to publish gender pay gap data every year, ensuring employers are aware of their gaps and take steps to close them.

To accelerate progress we have supported legislation to: enhance flexible working, extend redundancy protection for those on maternity leave, introduce carers leave, and, strengthen the protections against harassment in the workplace.

The Government published guidance for employers on ethnicity pay reporting in April 2023, which sets out best practice on measuring, analysing and reporting ethnicity pay gaps. We are supporting employers who wish to measure their pay gaps and are identifying examples of good practice.

In terms of supporting fair compensation practices, the National Living Wage will be increasing by a record cash amount in April – from £10.42 to £11.44 an hour. Through this, the Government protects the lowest paid in society, with women and people from an ethnic minority background among those more likely to benefit.