§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she has taken to encourage employers and trade unions to work in partnership to achieve equal pay. [15727]
§ Alan JohnsonThe pay gap is now 18 per cent. for full-time hourly earnings. This has halved from 37 per cent. since the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in 1970 and is the smallest gap recorded, but is still far too high.
163WWe have announced extra funding for the Equal Opportunities Commission to prepare a model for voluntary pay reviews and will encourage employers and trade unions to take up this and other tools. To encourage partnership working generally between employers and trade unions, the Government have several initiatives including the Partnership at Work Fund. Applications for grant are currently being sought and could include projects looking to use partnerships to achieve equal pay.
More generally, the Government are taking a range of actions to improve the operation of the labour market and, in doing so, the position of women. For example, about 900,000 women have benefited from the introduction of the national minimum wage in 1999, and this measure has helped to reduce the pay gap by over one percentage point. The Employment Bill placed before Parliament earlier this month provides for equal pay questionnaires and improved maternity rights, and the Government have accepted each of the recommendations made by the Work and Parents Taskforce on how a duty can be placed on employers to consider seriously requests from parents of young children to work flexibly.