Caroline Nokes MP calls for companies to make ethnicity pay gap public

Caroline Nokes, MP for Romsey and Southampton North and the chairwoman of the Women and Equalities Committee, has said there is “no excuse” for government inaction on the matter, as there is a “clear impetus” to report disparities.

Legislation was introduced in 2017 making it compulsory for companies with 250 or more employees to report their gender pay gap.

However there is currently no legal requirement to disclose pay data for workers of different ethnicities.

The committee is now calling for ethnicity pay gap reporting to be made mandatory by April 2023.

This should apply to all organisations which currently report for gender, it says.

Ms Nokes said the government’s “failure to move forwards on ethnicity pay gap reporting” was “perplexing”.

She said: “All that is lacking, it seems, is the will and attention of the current administration.

“Last week, the government made bold promises to ‘level up’ geographically.

"Time and again it proves itself to be blind to the importance of levelling up within our communities and address long-standing disparities along the lines of protected characteristics.

“By taking this small step, the government would demonstrate its commitment to working with business to reduce inequality.”

The committee states legislation should be put in place to require companies to publish “an accompanying statement and action plan, allowing employers to account for pay gaps and outline steps to be taken to address them”.

In response, a government spokesperson said: “We want to ensure everyone, whatever their background, has equal opportunity to succeed and achieve on merit.

“We are considering the findings of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities independent report, which included recommendations on ethnicity pay reporting, alongside feedback to our consultation on this issue.

“We will set out our response to this, as well as the Women and Equalities Committee report, in due course.”