Source · Select Committees · Treasury Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Deferred
Paragraph: 46
Urge financial firms to prioritise diversity and inclusion as a core business matter.
Recommendation
First and foremost, it must be the responsibility of firms, boards and investors to drive improvements in diversity and inclusion, particularly given the clear evidence that 40 Sexism in the City more diverse firms achieve better results. We heard that many firm-level initiatives aimed at improving diversity and inclusion were often not treated in the same way as other core business priorities. We encourage firms, boards and investors to put this right and ensure diversity and inclusion is given the same focus as any other core business priority. The lack of progress in the past five years cannot be tolerated indefinitely. The loss of potential is just too great.
Government Response Summary
The government deferred a decision, stating it is currently working through 257 responses to its policy proposals on data collection and target setting, and will carefully consider the Committee’s recommendation as it formulates its policy response.
Paragraph Reference:
46
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
We are grateful to the Committee for their recommendations in relation to our policy proposals around data collection and target setting. We received 257 responses covering a broad range of perspectives. We are currently working through these, and so the report is timely. We will consider carefully the Committee’s recommendation as we formulate our policy response in conjunction with the Prudential Regulation Authority. We remain committed to achieving healthy cultures, where everyone is included and able to progress, whilst being careful not to impose unnecessary costs on the industry. We would certainly agree with the Committee that we would not want any data collection to simply be a tickbox exercise without an appropriate focus on outcomes. The Women in Finance Charter annual review outlined what additional data signatories were collecting, which we will consider as we formulate our policy response. Taking into account the Committee’s recommendations, we are now prioritising our work on non-financial misconduct, including sexual harassment and bullying, and it will take some time to fully consider the very wide range of responses we have received to our proposals on diversity and inclusion. We will also consider what data may be needed to effectively deliver the other recommendations made to regulators by the Committee, for example to effectively engage with Boards and Senior Leadership, to support your recommendation on equality impact assessments and the recommended impact assessment on the removal of the bonus cap.