Telford MP Lucy Allan has today questioned the Government on the gender pay gap in Telford, which currently sees Telford women working full time, earning on average 16% less per hour than their male counterparts. Nationally the gender pay gap is 10% and is falling year on year.
Lucy asked the Minister for Women and Equalities, Nicky Morgan MP: “There has been excellent work done in tackling the gender pay gap however there remain regional differences. In my constituency of Telford, women in full time work are earning 16% less than men in full time work and I’d like to ask the minister what further action can be taken to address that kind of discrepancy?”
To which the Minister replied: “I think the gender pay gap regulations when published and when put into practice will help, because they will get employers to start thinking about these issues and reporting on them. I would also encourage her as a pro-active and new member of parliament to highlight best practice and show advantages of narrowing the gap, she might also like to think about the break-down of businesses in her constituency and work out how we can get more women and girls to participate in sectors like manufacturing and financial services.”
Commenting afterwards, Lucy Allan MP said: “I was pleased to hear that the government is tackling this issue head on. Closing the gender pay gap is an important issue of fairness and equality. Women in Telford deserve the same opportunities as men in accessing better paid work and the same pay for equivalent work. This is an issue I will campaign on.”