Source · Select Committees · Treasury Committee
Sixth Report - Sexism in the City
Treasury Committee
HC 240
Published 8 March 2024
Recommendations
10
Rejected
Para 76
Encourage financial firms to equalise parental leave and publish policies, boosting uptake by men.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government and regulators encourage all firms to consider equalising their offer of parental leave for men and women, and to actively encourage more men to take it up. We also recommend that the Government and regulators …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of fathers' roles and points to existing shared parental leave provisions. However, it explicitly rejects encouraging firms to be transparent by publishing parental leave policies, citing concerns about a 'one-size-fits-all' approach and burden on employers.
HM Treasury
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13
Rejected
Para 79
Encourage firms to undertake equality impact assessments on flexible working policies.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government and regulators encourage firms to undertake equality impact assessments on their flexible working policies and the interaction with diversity and inclusion within their firm.
Government Response Summary
The government explicitly rejects the recommendation to encourage firms to undertake equality impact assessments on their flexible working policies, stating it has not assessed their impact and has no plans to require them.
HM Treasury
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20
Rejected
Para 107
Strengthen pay gap reporting regulations for firms with large gaps and reduce reporting threshold.
Recommendation
We therefore recommend that the Government strengthens the pay gap reporting regulations to incentivise firms to make faster progress. Specifically, we recommend it be made mandatory for firms with a pay or bonus gap above a certain threshold to publish …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejects both recommendations to strengthen pay gap reporting. It states it is too soon to make changes and argues that mandatory action plans for firms with high gaps would be unfair, ineffective, and burdensome, while reducing the reporting threshold to 50 employees poses statistical and practical challenges.
HM Treasury
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22
Rejected
Para 109
Lack of pay transparency exacerbates and perpetuates gender pay gaps
Recommendation
We have heard compelling evidence that a lack of pay transparency, particularly at the recruitment stage, exacerbates and perpetuates gender pay gaps. It is vital that employees are paid based on their experience, skills and value to an organisation, rather …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejected moving directly to legislation for pay transparency, explaining it would not allow sufficient time for organisations to adjust, could cause backlash, and that it wants to learn from the experiences of other countries before committing to such a measure.
HM Treasury
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23
Rejected
Introduce legislation to mandate salary bands on job adverts and ban salary history requests
Recommendation
While we recognise the Government’s plans for a pay transparency pilot as a first step to exploring these issues, we are concerned by the lack of progress since the pilot was announced two years ago. Given the very clear case …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejects legislating to mandate salary band inclusion in job advertisements and ban salary history requests, stating it is not appropriate at this time due to potential employer difficulties, risk of backlash, and unknown negative impacts, preferring to learn from other countries' experiences first.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (7)
2
Conclusion
Rejected
Para 42
There have been some positive signs of improvement in the senior representation of women in some firms and sectors within financial services since 2018. We commend both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England for leading by example in significantly increasing female representation at their most senior levels. …
Government Response Summary
The government agreed that progress is slow but rejected expanding the scope of the Women in Finance Charter, citing increased burden on firms. It stated it would continue to encourage signatories and engage with them to explore other ways to improve progress.
3
Conclusion
Rejected
Para 43
The Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter has played an important role in driving the conversation on gender diversity and increasing accountability for signatory firms. Even so, progress on increasing female representation has been too slow. We believe that the scope of the Charter should be extended to help drive more …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that a strong female talent pipeline is key but rejects extending the scope of the Women in Finance Charter, arguing it would increase the burden on firms and potentially deter new signatories. It will, however, explore other means to gather insights.
4
Conclusion
Rejected
Para 44
In particular, the focus of the Charter on female representation at just the senior management level is too narrow. There needs to be greater focus on ensuring there is a pipeline of female talent to support long-lasting, sustainable improvement in gender diversity in the sector. We therefore recommend that the …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees on the importance of a female talent pipeline but rejects extending the Women in Finance Charter to cover different seniority levels, stating it would increase the burden on firms and potentially deter new signatories. It plans to seek alternative methods to gather insights.
9
Conclusion
Rejected
Para 75
It is clear that maternity remains a significant barrier to women in financial services, with too many women leaving the industry after having children. We have heard that increased availability and take-up of paternity leave and shared parental leave by men can have a significant impact on reducing this barrier …
Government Response Summary
HM Treasury notes it previously consulted on requiring large employers to publish family-friendly policies but concluded against a 'one-size-fits-all' approach, effectively rejecting mandatory transparency. The PRA and FCA acknowledge the importance of parental leave but defer broader transparency questions to the government.
17
Conclusion
Rejected
Para 104
The financial services sector is well paid compared to many other industries, but it has the largest gender pay gap of any sector in the UK economy and that pay gap is reducing at such a glacial pace that it could take 70 years to close it at the current …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees reporting alone is insufficient but believes it is too soon to change requirements and rejects the idea of mandatory action plans, arguing they would be unfair, ineffective, and burdensome for businesses.
19
Conclusion
Rejected
Gender pay gap reporting has increased transparency around pay gaps, but it has not incentivised firms to take action to reduce pay gaps in the way that had been hoped and we are concerned by the evidence we heard that suggests large pay gaps in financial services have come to …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees reporting alone is insufficient but believes it is too soon to change requirements and rejects the idea of mandatory action plans, arguing they would be unfair, ineffective, and burdensome for businesses.
21
Conclusion
Rejected
Para 108
We repeat our predecessor Committee’s recommendations that the Government considers amending the pay gap reporting guidance so that partners’ remuneration is included, and that the granularity of pay gap reporting be increased to provide more clarity around where pay gaps exist within firms and incentivise more targeted action to reduce …
Government Response Summary
The government rejects amending pay gap reporting regulations to include partners' remuneration or increase granularity, preferring that further analysis remains voluntary. It notes that many firms already voluntarily publish partner data and that new guidance offers recommendations for additional, voluntary calculations.