Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Women and Equalities

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to encourage big businesses to promote gender equality and provide models for small and medium-sized enterprises to follow.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government is committed to full gender equality in the workplace, and we are introducing mandatory gender pay gap reporting for larger employers from April 2017.

We will support all employers to do this with a £500,000 package including: UK wide conference events, free online software and targeted support for male-dominated sectors. Employers of any size can join the voluntary “Think, Act, Report” initiative which has around 300 members leading the way on gender equality.

The Women’s Business Council has an SME representative to ensure good practice is promulgated throughout the wider business community, including a toolkit for businesses to support older women in the workplace.