Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to close the gender the pay gap, and (2) to end unequal pay for, and discrimination against, women.

This Government is committed to the empowerment of women in the workplace. Over the last decade our work has seen the gender pay gap fall considerably, with mandatory gender pay gap reporting regulations helping to motivate employers to improve equality in the workplace, and strong growth in the number of women in full-time work.

To drive forward this progress we have recently announced a ground-breaking pay transparency pilot, a new STEM returners programme and a Taskforce on Women-Led High-Growth Enterprises. In combination, this work will ensure that all women are able to reach their full career potential, improving gender equality in the workplace, and helping to further narrow the gender pay gap.

We also remain committed to the Equality Act 2010, which contains strong protections from discrimination on the basis of sex, and reaffirms fundamental equal pay protections.