§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what mechanisms her Department has put in place to monitor(a) sex discrimination, (b) race discrimination, (c) disability discrimination and (d) unfair dismissal affecting her Department's staff; and if she will make a statement on her Department's performance in promoting equal opportunities within (i) her Department and (ii) the bodies for which it is responsible. [186697]
§ Ms HewittAs an equal opportunities employer, my Department regularly monitors all processes and policies to identify any potential sex, race or disability discrimination. Mechanisms include collection, publication and discussion of equality data; training for human resources staff; frequent consultation with staff equality groups; and involvement of the DTI Equality and Diversity team in HR policy and process development.
1019WAll departmental procedures that may lead to dismissal comply fully with the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance procedures. The procedures include the opportunity for an individual to appeal against their dismissal to a senior officer within the Department, to the civil service appeal board and at an employment tribunal. Dismissals, and the outcome of any related appeals, are monitored at a senior level.
Good progress is being made in promoting equal opportunities within the Department while our priorities for future action are laid out in our Diversity Strategic Plan.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of S#ate for Trade and Industry what information the Government have collated on the percentage of(a) public and (b) private sector organisations which have committed to carry out equal pay reviews. [186876]
§ Ms HewittThe Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) commissioned Incomes Data Services to carry out research on equal pay reviews. Their findings were published in the EOC's report 'Monitoring Progress on equal pay reviews' in March 2004. The report concluded that 57 per cent. of public sector organisations had conducted, were in the process of conducting, or had plans to conduct an equal pay review by the end of 2004. This compares with 31 per cent. of private sector organisations.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information the Government have collated on the percentage of public sector organisations which have(a) committed to and (b) declined to carry out equal pay reviews. [186877]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) commissioned Incomes Data Services to carry out research on equal pay reviews. Their findings were published in the EOC's report 'Monitoring Progress on equal pay reviews' in March 2004. The report concluded that 57 per cent. of public sector organisations had conducted, were in the process of conducting, or had plans to conduct an equal pay review by the end of 2004. It was found that 32 per cent. had no plans to conduct an equal pay review. As pay reviews are voluntary, there is no mechanism for recording organisations who have 'declined' to carry out an equal pay review.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information the Government have collated on the percentage of(a) public sector and (b) private sector organisations with over 500 employees which have carried out equal pay reviews. [186878]
§ Ms HewittThe Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) commissioned Incomes Data Services to carry out research on equal pay reviews. Their findings were published in the EOC's report 'Monitoring Progress on equal pay reviews' in March 2004. The report concluded that
(a) 20 per cent. of public sector organisations with 500 employees and over had carried out an equal pay review; and(b) 13 per cent. of private sector organisations with 500 employees and over had carried out an equal pay review.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information the Government have collated on the percentage of(a) public sector 1020W and (b) private sector organisations with less than 500 employees which have carried out equal pay reviews. 1186879]
§ Ms HewittThe Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) commissioned Incomes Data Services to carry out research on equal pay reviews. Their findings were published in the EOC's report 'Monitoring Progress on equal pay reviews' in March 2004. The following table summarises their findings in relation to the percentage of public sector and private sector organisations with less than 500 employees, which have carried out equal pay reviews.
Number of employees
Percentage completed equal pay reviews
Private sector 25–99 15 100–499 17 25–499 16 Public sector 100–499 13 25–499 15
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information the Government have collated on the percentage of(a) public sector organisations and (b) private sector organisations which have carried out equal pay reviews. [186880]
§ Ms Hewitt#/b> The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) commissioned Incomes Data Services to carry out research on equal pay reviews. Their findings were published in the EOC's report 'Monitoring Progress on equal pay reviews' in March 2004. The report concluded that 18 per cent. or public sector organisations and 14 per cent. of private sector organisations had carried out an equal pay review.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government's policy is on tackling occupational segregation in relation to the gender pay gap; and if she will make a statement. [186902]
§ Mr. SutcliffeOccupational segregation has been identified as one of the key causes of the gender pay gap. We know that women are concentrated in just two industrial sectors within low-paid occupations. Men in comparison are spread much more evenly across the labour market in typically higher-paid occupations. They also typically hold more senior positions within the labour market than women.
The Government aims to break down the barriers of occupational segregation as part of a raft of measures to tackle the pay gap. It aims to increase young women's awareness of the importance of education and career choices; address the problems women face getting access to appropriate training or re-skilling and inform employers about their potential in various male-dominated sectors such as information technology, engineering and science.
We have set up Sector Skills Councils and Learning and Skills Councils to address industry specific training needs and to broaden post-16 learning opportunities. These are addressing occupational segregation issues through various research and initiatives. E-stills Sector Skills Council for example launched initiatives in the South East such as 'Go 4 IT' workshops, Computer 1021W Clubs for Girls and IT Beat, to challenge girls' perceptions of Information Technology (IT).These target schools and young teen publications after a 2001 MORI poll found girls formed negative images of IT between 11 to 13-years-old.
Other examples of government initiatives include: A new Science Engineering and Technology (SET) resource centre to be set up aimed at working with SET employers; raising the profile of women in SET; funding pilot schemes such as mentoring and networking; and providing help for SET women returners.
The government are also taking an active interest in the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), general formal investigation (GFI) into occupational segregation and the correlation with skills and pay gaps in the UK. The report is due in the autumn and will inform government policy in this area.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans the Government has to change legislation on equal pay; and if she will make a statement. [186912]
§ Ms HewittThe Government is continuing to take action to improve the way equal pay legislation works in practice. From 1 October 2004, subject to Parliamentary approval, we shall be introducing changes to the way in which employment tribunals deal with the complex equal value cases. The aim is to streamline tribunal procedures and help to prevent very long running cases. The key features of the new procedures include the early exchange of information, the use of tribunals with specialist knowledge and new case management powers.
We also intend to amend the Equal Pay Act to remove the "no reasonable grounds" defence in section 2A(1)(b) of the Equal Pay Act 1970 and limit the circumstances in which a tribunal could refuse to consider an equal value claim. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the legislation is due to come into effect on 1 October 2004, at the same time as new tribunal procedures for equal value cases. These form part of a wider package of measures to speed up and simplify equal pay cases, such as amendments that were made to the Equ#l Pay Act in 2003 to introduce the Equal Pay Questionnaire, and make changes to time limits and payment of arrears.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government's policy is on the promotion of equal pay. [186913]
§ Ms HewittThe Government continues to lead the way in undertaking equal pay reviews. We believe that the best way to achieve lasting change is through working alongside the business community, employers, trade unions and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to drive forward action on equal pay and to promote voluntary pay reviews. We have toughened our equal pay review target to 45 per cent. of large organisations having carried out equal pay reviews by 2008.
The EOC published a revised Code of Practice on Equal Pay, which recommends equal pay reviews as the best way of ensuring that a pay system delivers equal pay. By helping employers to check the pay gap in their organisation and by encouraging good equal pay 1022W practice, the Code reinforces the Government's commitment to promoting equal pay and closing the gender pay gap.
In addition to pay discrimination, occupational segregation has been identified as another cause of the gender pay gap and the Government is putting in place a range of educational and employment measures to address this. The EOC is conducting an investigation into occupational segregation and we await the results of this with interest.
The Government has provided funding to the EOC to prepare a model for voluntary pay reviews and have also provided funding to trade unions to train representatives in equal pay issues in the workplace. Over 400 representatives have now been trained and as a#result a number of unions and employers are now carrying out joint training on how to do an equal pay review.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government's policy is on implementing the recommendations in the Equal Opportunities Commission's 2002 Equal Pay Task Force Report; and if she will make a statement. [186914]
§ Ms HewittThe Government welcomed the Equal Opportunities Commission's (EOC) Equal Pay Task Force report in 2001 as a springboard for action to tackle the gender pay gap. It remains our belief that the best way to achieve lasting change is through working alongside the business community, employers, trade unions and the EOC to drive forward action on equal pay and to promote voluntary pay reviews. This is being reinforced by a Government target of 45 per cent. of large organisations to undertake pay reviews by April 2008.
The Government have continued to lead the way in undertaking pay reviews. All Government departments and agencies, have now completed pay reviews and submitted action plans. Recent figures from the EOC show that 45 per cent. of large employers had completed an equal pay review, were in the process of completing one or were planning to do so in 2004. Among those that had carried out a pay review or were planning to do one, 41 per cent. said that government policy and publicity had influenced them.
We provided funding to the EOC to prepare a model for voluntary pay reviews, including a separate system for small businesses, and these were produced in 2002 and 2003.
The Government are also encouraging voluntary pay reviews by funding the TUC's Equal Pay Partnership Project. The project aims include: setting up a panel of recognised experts in the field of equal pay who have the confidence of both employers and unions; encouraging companies and organisations to undertake voluntary equal pay reviews; offering technical support to unions and employers; and building on the TUC Equal Pay project which has trained over 400 union equal pay representatives from government funding of £295,000.
We are working with the EOC to promote pay reviews in specific sectors. The Government also welcomes the EOC's in#estigation into modern apprenticeships and 1023W the concentration of men and women in different professions. An interim report was published in May 2004.
As regards legal change, in April 2003 the Equal Pay Act was enhanced with changes to time limits and payment of pay arrears, and amendments so that the statutory questionnaire procedure for discrimination claims can apply to equal pay claims. The EOC produced a revised statutory Code of Practice on equal pay which was laid in Parliament and came into force in December 2003. From October 2004, subject to Parliamentary approval, we shall be introducing changes to the way in which Employment Tribunals deal with complex cases involving the question of whether jobs are of equal value. We also intend to amend the Equal Pay Act to remove the 'no reasonable grounds' defence in section 2A(1)(b) of the Equal Pay At 1970 to limit the circumstances in which a tribunal could refuse to consider an equal value claim.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many pay discrimination lawsuits have been filed each year since 1997, broken down by region. [186916]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe following table shows the number of pay discrimination applications that have been registered with the Employment Tribunals Service since 1997. A regional breakdown of pay discrimination cases could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
Main jurisdiction 1997–98 1,845 1998–99 5,018 1999–2000 2,391 2000–01 6,586 2001–02 5,314 2002–03 3,077 2003–04 3,217
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many pay discrimination lawsuits on the grounds of gender discrimination have been filed in each year since 1997, broken down by region. [186917]
§ Ms HewittThe following table shows the number of equal pay applications that have been registered with the Employment Tribunals Service since 1997. A regional breakdown of equal pay cases could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
Main jurisdiction 1997–98 1,845 1998–99 5,018 1999–2000 2,391 2000–01 6,586 2001–02 5,314 2002–03 3,077 2003–04 3,217
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate the Government have made of the average length of time taken to process pay discrimination lawsuits in the last period for which figures are available. [186918]
1024W
§ Ms HewittThe Employment Tribunals Service (ETS) does not report on the average length of time taken to process applications made to the Service. However, ETS has a target of 85 per cent. for cases to come to a first hearing within 26 weeks of an application being received. In 2003–04 75 per cent. of pay discrimination cases which went before a Tribunal (i.e. were not settled or withdrawn) achieved this target.
§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate the Government has made of the cost to businesses of pay discrimination lawsuits in each year since 1997. [186919]
§ Jacqui SmithThe DTI has not made an estimate of the cost to business of equal pay claims to employment tribunal, which comprise about 3 per cent. of all Tribunal cases.
The Department and the Employme#t Tribunal Service carried out a sample survey of employment tribunal claims—the Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications 2003. But there were not enough equal pay claims in the sample to allow a reliable estimate of the costs to business of equal pay claims in the period, or to extrapolate to other years.
The survey of employment tribunal applications contains a sample of all discrimination cases in 2002–03—race, sex, disability and equal pay claims—which would be large enough to allow an estimate of the average cost to business of such discrimination claims. This average mean cost has been calculated as £5.813. However, this estimate would not be representative of the cost to business of equal pay claims, since equal pay claims tend to be of longer duration than the average discrimination claim. Nor, on the other hand, would it include the lower costs of the many cases that are settled, for example there were 578 ACAS conciliated settlements of equal pay cases in 2003–04.