§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the extent of the gender pay gap among staff in her Department. [41006]
§ Clare ShortThe Department undertook a review of its pay systems in 2001 and implemented a range of measures to deal with the historical anomalies of the system which affected both sexes. The major change was the introduction of guaranteed progression for satisfactory performers to the top of the pay range. We now propose to undertake a formal Equal Pay Audit during the next 12 months to identify any other action required to address unjustified gender pay gaps. We have already embarked upon a diversity audit to ensure that all our systems, including those which ultimately link to our pay system such as postings and promotion arrangements, are free of gender and other bias.