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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the analysis by the Women’s Budget Group, that the distributional analysis that was produced alongside the Budget fails to adequately analyse the impact on women and men, either as individuals or across different types of households.

Harriett Baldwin

The government’s distributional analysis at Budget shows the proportion of tax paid and public services spending received by households. It shows that the richest fifth of households will be paying a greater proportion of taxes in 2019-20 than in the 2010-11 system as a result of government policy, while half of all spending on welfare and public services is still going to the poorest 40% of households.

In contrast with the government’s approach, the analysis produced by the Women’s Budget Group focuses on immediate cash impacts and assumes that extra government borrowing can make everyone better off. This ignores the fact that borrowing needs to be paid for and harms our long term economic security.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions has the Government had with businesses on reducing discrimination and promoting equal opportunities.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government is committed to ensuring equal opportunities, so that everyone can reach their full potential and is working with business to achieve this. The Government has done so in a number of ways, including: The Hampton and Alexander review of women on boards and the chair of the Women’s Business Council, Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith will lead a review of issues faced by businesses in developing black and minority ethnic (BAME) talent, and access to the labour market.

The Women’s Business Council, established in 2012, has produced a range of products to encourage older women to enter and stay on in the workplace. The Women’s Business Council has also been active in working with the finance sector to address some of the barriers facing some BAME women entrepreneurs. The Government has worked closely with employers to develop a range of measures that will help promote gender equality in workplaces and will require all companies with at least 250 employees to report their gender pay gaps. It is expected that employers will publish the required information from April 2017.

This builds upon actions already undertaken by the Government including a series of equality roadshows with the British Chambers of Commerce. These roadshows highlighted the benefits and challenges of diverse workforces for business whilst helping the Government shape guidance for business on older workers, women and disabled people in the workplace to tackle discrimination.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to encourage big businesses to promote gender equality and provide models for small and medium-sized enterprises to follow.

Caroline Dinenage

The Government is committed to full gender equality in the workplace, and we are introducing mandatory gender pay gap reporting for larger employers from April 2017.

We will support all employers to do this with a £500,000 package including: UK wide conference events, free online software and targeted support for male-dominated sectors. Employers of any size can join the voluntary “Think, Act, Report” initiative which has around 300 members leading the way on gender equality.

The Women’s Business Council has an SME representative to ensure good practice is promulgated throughout the wider business community, including a toolkit for businesses to support older women in the workplace.