§ Mr. Bellingham:To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research her Department has conducted into the pay gap between male and female directors. [140524]
§ Ms Hewitt:My Department has not conducted any specific research into the pay gap between male and female directors, however we do know that increases in the pay gap for very high earners drove the increase in the mean full-time pay gap figure last year.
As a consequence we provided a financial contribution towards the recent research 'The Female FTSE Report 2003' which showed that the number of female directorships currently stands at 101, up by 20 per cent. on last year. We also have a programme of work intended to encourage diversity in the boardroom.
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