HC Deb 18 March 2002 vol 382 cc9-10W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Solicitor-General what assessment she has made of the extent of the gender pay gap among staff in her Department. [41001]

The Solicitor-General

[holding answer 11 March 2002]: My own Department, the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, which has less than 35 permanent staff, is generally staffed by officials on secondment for a period of two to three years from their parent Departments. Their pay is determined by the particular arrangements of their parent Departments and as such is not susceptible for review by LSLO. Disparity of pay within LSLO is a reflection of the differing pay scales of parent Departments and so no useful assessment of gender pay gap could be made.

In the Departments for which the Attorney-General is responsible, details are as follows:

Crown Prosecution Service

In accordance with Government policy, the Crown Prosecution Service is committed to an audit of its pay systems and structure and the preparation of an action plan to address any equal pay issues, by April 2003. The Crown Prosecution Service is currently engaged in the trial of a new Equal Pay Audit Model to be published by the Equal Opportunities Commission in due course. This trial will produce data on the extent of any gender pay gap in the Crown Prosecution Service by the end of May 2002.

Following the Equal Pay Review, the aims of the Crown Prosecution Service are to: Jointly consider whether any reasons the Department may identify for differences in average basic pay or total earnings for men and women doing equal work provide an objective justification for that difference; Introduce an equal pay policy for the Crown Prosecution Service; Change the processes, rules and practices that may give rise to unequal pay; Give equal pay to current and future employees; Set up a system of monitoring and clear accountability to ensure the pay system is free of sex bias.

Treasury Solicitor's Department

In line with the Government policy enunciated last year by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Treasury Solicitor's Department is reviewing its pay systems to establish whether any equal pay gaps exist and, if there are gaps, to prepare an action plan to close them.

Serious Fraud Office

In response to the Government's programme to improve reward management systems, in August 2001 the Serious Fraud Office conducted a comprehensive review of its pay and grading systems. This resulted in the introduction of a new pay structure for all permanent staff below the Senior Civil Service, with effect from 1 August 2001. Staff were assimilated into the new structure by reference to their seniority and performance. The new structure guarantees satisfactory performers progression to 80 per cent. of their pay band within five years, and to the top of their pay band within a further seven years.

The Serious Fraus Office has not yet conducted an Equal Pay Audit, not least because central "How to" guidance was only issued by Cabinet Office in mid February 2002.