Select Committee on Trade and Industry Written Evidence

APPENDIX 12

Memorandum by the Department of Trade and Industry

1.  INTRODUCTION

  1.1  The Government welcomes the Committee's inquiry into the effect of occupational segregation on the gender pay gap. This memorandum sets out the Government's approach to the link between occupational segregation and the gender pay gap, outlines initiatives, including sector-specific ones, currently in hand designed to address the issues, many of which are underpinned by Public Service Agreement targets, and looks ahead to future work in this area, including that to be taken forward by the Women and Work Commission.

2.  SUMMARY

  2.1  The Government recognises occupational segregation as one of the main reasons for the gender pay gap between men and women. In addition, occupational segregation is a major factor behind the skills shortages currently affecting several industry sectors. It reinforces the rigidity of the labour market which in turn has a negative effect on UK productivity and reduces our potential when competing in the wider global economy.

  2.2  The Government seeks to tackle occupational segregation in a number of ways. These include: supporting men and women in considering study or career options from which they may otherwise be discouraged by gender stereotypes; helping parents to balance their work and family life by making high quality and affordable childcare available, and giving them the opportunity to request flexible working arrangements; working in partnership with industry to share best practice on recruiting and retaining women at all levels; and leading by example with initiatives in central Government and public sector bodies to audit, analyse and address occupational segregation and the gender pay gap. This work is underpinned by Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets, specifically PSA 9 on gender.

3.  THE GENDER PAY GAP

  3.1  The headline gender pay gap is defined as the gap between men's and women's median full-time hourly pay (excluding overtime) as a percentage of men's full-time hourly pay. The median is the middle value in an ordered set of values, below and above which there are an equal number of values. This measure is preferred to mean or average pay as it is less influenced by extreme values from the higher end of the pay distribution. The Government uses hourly pay in order to control for the fact that men and women work different numbers of hours per week—women in full-time employment work, on average, two hours less than their male counterparts, or three hours less if overtime is included.

  3.2  The latest data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings shows the full-time gender pay gap in 2004 as being 14.4% as measured by the median and 18.4% as measured by the mean. This is down from 14.6% (median) and 19.4% (mean) in 2003.

  3.3  Over the last three decades the pay gap has closed considerably. It is now at its narrowest since the Equal Pay Act came into force in 1975. At that time the gap between men's and women's hourly average earnings in full-time employment was 30% compared to 18.4% today. However, the gender pay gap is now falling more slowly and these last percentage points stubbornly remain.

  3.4  Women working part-time face an even larger disparity. They earn 43.2% less than men working full-time (as measured by the median) and 33.7% less than women working full-time. Women working part-time tend to be crowded into a few occupations (which tend to be lower paid) and there are less part-time jobs available in particular occupations, and at senior levels more generally. Other factors also contribute to the full-time gender pay gap: these include occupational segregation, discrimination, differences in education, work experience, and travel patterns between men and women, and the different caring roles which men and women perform.

4.  THE GOVERNMENT'S APPROACH TO TACKLING OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION AND THE GENDER PAY GAP

  4.1  The Government is committed to creating opportunities which enable women to fulfil their potential in jobs commensurate with their skills. It is widely recognized that tackling a wide range of barriers in education, vocational training and employment will enable more women to enter more highly paid and more highly skilled employment. This includes: supporting parents in balancing their work and family lives in a way that suits their needs; raising individuals' and employers' awareness of the economic and social benefits of considering atypical career options; enabling and encouraging women to access the skills and training needed to fulfil their potential in employment; encouraging the recruitment and retention of women in highly paid and highly skilled employment, which is often in male-dominated sectors, and encouraging men into the traditionally female-dominated sectors and vocations; enabling and encouraging women to start their own businesses; and easing the transition for women who wish to return to the labour market after taking a break. Background data relating to occupational segregation is at annex A.

5.  EVIDENCE BASE

  5.1  Research suggests that a key factor in occupational segregation is the choices that individuals make about their training, career or job. These choices may be shaped by a range of factors relating to both their education and wider society. Widening the choices available to individuals is an important step. This can be achieved through better information, advice and guidance about the benefits of different training choices or career paths. We also need to understand whether careers or occupations, particularly in areas suffering severe skill shortages, have to change fundamentally to be attractive to both men and women. For this reason we are undertaking research on Gender Segregation in Skills Training and Occupational Choices.

"Gender Segregation in Skills Training and Occupational Choices"

  5.2  This research, commissioned from the University of Surrey, will identify the information that young people aged 14-19 use to form their job attitudes and preferences. To gain a better understanding of why young people choose jobs and training which ultimately perpetuate occupational segregation, it is important to understand why young people hold their preferences and what kinds of information they use to develop these preferences. In order to do this, the research will examine what girls and boys perceive to be the key characteristics of jobs and training in areas in which there is a high level of skills shortage and/or gender segregation. In addition to their perceptions, young people will be asked about the key components that are important to them in work (eg opportunity to talk to people, work environment, flexible working, high salary). They will be asked to rate key occupations in relation to these components.

  5.3  The findings from this research will offer practical solutions for developing a systematic strategy for making jobs in skill-shortage domains more attractive (either through representation and/or fundamental restructuring). The evidence derived from this research could have direct implications for policy change in the way schools, FE, work based learning provision, HE and those providing relevant information, advice and guidance handle the vocational decision making process, as well as how industry handles its recruitment practices.

"Part-time Pay Penalty Research"

  5.4  As well as understanding why women make the choices they do in relation to their chosen occupation or career we also need to understand how wider societal perceptions and roles impact on their participation in the labour market. For women who balance caring responsibilities and paid employment, the flexibility of the job is of fundamental importance. For many women, part-time work is their preferred option. However, there can be a penalty associated with this. Research on the Part-time Pay Penalty shows that part-time work is predominantly offered in jobs that are low paid and traditionally done by women.

  5.5  In 2004, the DTI commissioned Alan Manning and Barbara Petrongolo from London School of Economics to conduct statistical analyses examining the large pay differential between full-time and part-time women in the UK, to assess its causes and its evolution over time. The research also compared UK performance in part-time work with that of other EU countries. In the part-time sector, in particular, it has been difficult to completely disentangle the causes of the pay gap. This research therefore provides important evidence for the causes of the pay gap.

  5.6  This research highlights that women moving from full-time to part-time work, on average, make a downward occupational move, which indicates that many women working part-time are not maximising their skills and experience. The research provides evidence that the pay differential between full-time and part-time working women within an occupation is very small. It is in fact the occupational segregation of part-time and full-time working women that can explain most of the part-time pay penalty. The research concludes that the gender pay gap could be tackled by reducing occupational segregation by providing greater opportunities for employees to move between full-time and part-time work, and through increasing the availability of high quality part-time work.

Women Returners

  5.7  Women who take a break from work to care for children or elderly relatives may return to lower paid work, irrespective of whether it matches their skill requirements, often because that is all that is available on a part-time basis or in a convenient area, such as where their children are located. This is the subject of further research from which we aim to understand which policy interventions are possible to enable women who wish to return to paid employment, whilst continuing to fulfil their caring responsibilities, to return to a job which is commensurate with their skills.

  5.8  Research suggests that women returning to work appear to be making compromises in terms of hours worked, pay and skill utilisation. Research currently being developed by DTI aims to understand more about the decision-making process women go through when considering returning to work after taking time out of the job market to look after their children or to perform other care roles. One key aspect of this research will be to determine whether Government intervention could raise the demand for skilled employment by women returners and enable employers, in areas of skills shortages or economic need, to assess whether changing the characteristics of their jobs would attract and enable women returners to use their skills in these areas.

  5.9  The University of Manchester has been commissioned to produce a literature review and conduct secondary analysis on existing data that provides explanations for women returners' discontinuous employment trajectories, research on changing attitudes and preferences of women returners and their specific labour market experiences, for example, their likelihood of working part-time and being employed within occupations offering flexible working patterns and characterised by high gender segregation. The present training opportunities and support for women returners will also be incorporated into the literature review, as will research on organisational dynamics within sectors of high gender segregation and skill shortages, including the Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) sector.

  5.10  The second part of this research will examine the ways in which women re-enter the labour market after periods of inactivity and identify the skills profile of women returners, particularly whether skills are a barrier to them returning to the labour market to work in jobs demanding higher skills. Further it will examine the characteristics women desire in occupations or jobs (such as whether they are local or part-time, fit in with school hours, or offer flexible hours) and to explore whether those characteristics are or could be found in jobs not traditionally performed by women. The research will also look at whether some women return to jobs for which they are over-educated in order to obtain these job characteristics.

  5.11  This research will identify the key policy issues for government in relation to meeting the needs of women returners and will specifically make policy recommendations aimed at creating opportunities for women to return to areas of the labour market that are equivalent to their qualifications and skills, and areas of the economy that report sustained skill shortages.

6.  EDUCATION AND SKILLS

  6.1  It is well known that the choices young people make can have a long-term impact on their future employment and ultimately on their earnings. Existing evidence suggests that gender stereotypes influence those choices. As noted above, Government has commissioned research, Gender Segregation in Skills Training and Occupational Choices, to explore further why young people hold their preferences and what kinds of information they use to develop these preferences. Government continues to work closely with the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) in the context of the EOC's findings and recommendations arising from its General Formal Investigation (GFI) into occupational segregation. The cross-Government plan Equality, Opportunity and Choice: Tackling Occupational Segregation, launched in October 2004, details some of the Government's actions and responses to the EOC's GFI. Challenging gender stereotypical views in the context of education is part of the work to address occupational segregation.

The Skills Strategy

  6.2  The Skills Strategy White Paper was launched in July 2003 and sets out how we will ensure that employers have the skills to support the success of their business and that every individual employee and citizen has the necessary skills to be both employable and personally fulfilled.

  6.3  The DfES, through Connexions Personal Advisers and Connexions Direct, makes information and advice available for young people (typically aged 13-19) to gain access to learning and qualifications at all levels. Information, advice and guidance facilities are also available to adults via services funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) or provided by the Jobcentre network.

Information, Advice and Guidance

  6.4  A key to tackling occupational segregation is high quality information, advice and guidance. It plays a critical role in the decisions that girls, boys, young men and young women make about career choices. We are currently looking at ways of encouraging girls and women to consider occupations where they are currently under-represented in the in the context of the Government's thinking on the content of the forthcoming Skills, 14-19 and Youth papers. Likewise, there is a body of work underway to encourage boys and men into occupations in which they are under-represented, notably in the caring sector.

Sector Skills Agreements

  6.5  The Skills Strategy White Paper, 21st Century Skills (July 2003), established Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) to articulate employer skill needs and work with partners to shape the supply of training for their sectors. Four SSCs[63] have almost completed work to establish how they will work with Government and its Agencies to address priority skills needs which includes action to tackle the gender gap. For example e-skills UK propose to take action on female under-representation in IT related careers by extending the Computer Club for Girls initiative. CITB-ConstructionSkills have also set specific targets for increasing the percentage of women working in their industry, underpinned by a range of actions that include positive action to increase work placements and increased involvement in Sustainable Communities initiatives.

  6.6  The Sector Skills Agreements process is now being extended to further sectors who will also be asked to assess Equality and Diversity as part of their initial sector analysis.

  6.7  The Government also introduced Foundation Degrees in 2000 to tackle skills gaps identified by employers at associate professional and higher technician level. Foundation degrees have flexible modes of attendance, part-time, distance and work-based learning, as well as full-time options, in order to encourage a broader range of students into higher education.

Apprenticeships

  6.8  The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) collects and publishes annual data on Apprenticeship frameworks for learners over 16 by sector, gender, race and disability. An initial pay survey of Apprenticeships will help improve the reliability of published apprentice pay data. This will help those women and men considering Apprenticeships to make informed career choices, including about higher-paid and higher-skilled occupations or about those in which they are currently under-represented. LSC marketing of Apprenticeships is helping to maintain the focus on occupational segregation and support atypical patterns of learning.

  6.9  A number of other actions encourage and support non-traditional patterns of Apprenticeship learning. Greater flexible delivery of Apprenticeships will help meet the needs of women, black and minority ethnic, and disabled trainees. LSC local action with partners via Equality Diversity Impact Measures is designed to counter barriers and gender imbalance. The first phase sector trials of Apprenticeships for adult entry introduce short, non-traditional taster courses and accreditation of prior experience.

  6.10  Attitudes may be formed and stereotypical decisions made at an early age. On Young Apprenticeships for 14-16 year olds, Government is working closely with the Equal Opportunities Commission, who sit on the Project Advisory Group. On both Young Apprenticeship and Increased Flexibility programmes, the latest invitation to submit proposals encourages partnerships to address gender stereotypical selection.

GCSEs in vocational subjects

  6.11  GCSEs in vocational subjects were examined for the first time in 2004. In all GCSEs in vocational subjects a higher proportion of girls achieved grades A*A*-CC and grades A*A*-GG. The difference in attainment at grades A*A*-CC between boys and girls was most pronounced in Engineering (19.8 percentage points difference); Applied Art & Design (18.9 percentage points difference); and Health & Social Care (17.8 percentage points difference).

  6.12  Hopefully this success will encourage girls to progress through FE and HE pathways into higher-paid and higher skilled occupations. Some students will go on to study other qualifications at a higher level, such as "AS" or "A" levels in either the same, similar or different subjects. Some students may take a NVQ or another vocational qualification. Other students may start work after taking their GCSEs and may take an Apprenticeship leading to a skilled career or management training, with the intention of going on later to a foundation degree or other higher education course.

Work Experience

  6.13  Work experience remains the only business-link activity in which all young people can be reasonably certain of taking part. High quality work experience is also a crucial part of an education process that prepares young people for adult and working life. It has also remained consistently successful; over 95% of pupils in the target group (Key Stage 4) go on placements each year. This represents around 550,000 pupils.

  6.14  The Government's guidance on work experience encourages schools to pursue a policy of equal opportunities in their work experience programmes, particularly in countering gender stereotyping, and pupils are actively encouraged and given extra support when choosing non-stereotyped placements, for example, special preparation for reactions they may encounter during the placement.

  6.15  The Government, through the DfES, has also co-funded, with the JIVE project, an EOC study entitled Gender Equality in Work Experience Placement for Young People. The Government is considering its findings as it addresses future priorities for work experience in schools.

Teaching Aids

  6.16  The Government's publication Does Sex Make a Difference? is an equalities resource for teachers, personal advisers, Connexions staff and other professionals who work with young people to help stimulate discussion about gender related issues. It was originally produced to tie in with International Women's Day on 8 March 2003, but was so well received re-prints were required and feedback tells us it is used throughout the year. It is publicised through the DfES, and the National Union of Teachers have promoted it to their members.

  6.17  It contains background information and lesson plans focusing on occupational segregation, the career choices boys and girls make, the pay gap, and other areas including public life and domestic violence. The material: reveals disparities in our society through the powerful use of facts and figures; empowers students and their advisers by giving both the opportunity to discuss career stereotyping; and encourages boys and girls to challenge the status quo. The publication provides an innovative way of explaining why girls and boys need to think long and hard about career choices, and to consider non-traditional options. It provides a useful tool for those that work with young people to address this topic and feedback inform us that this has been welcomed by the teachers and other professionals.

7.  SECTOR-SPECIFIC APPROACHES

Science, Engineering and Technology (SET)

  7.1  The Government recognises the science base as the bedrock of the UK's economy. There is an increasing demand for SET based skills; we, through HM Treasury, predict that 300,000 new SET graduates will be required over the next 10 years. This increased demand, accompanied by an ageing demographic, means that the UK's productivity, competitive position and level of innovation could be adversely affected by a shortage of appropriately qualified people. This shortage is compounded by the high leakage rate of SET graduates into other sectors.

  7.2  The low participation and progression rates of women in our SET sectors suggest that there are barriers to their recruitment, retention and progression, in both industry and academia, which we must look to address. This is an issue with implications not only for women, but also for the economy: if employers are selecting from an artificially reduced pool of talent by drawing from only one half of the available population, it is clear that the UK is not reaching its true potential. It is for this reason that Patricia Hewitt asked Baroness Greenfield, in 2002, to review the difficulties facing women in SET, which she did in her report SET Fair. The Government response to that document was published in April 2003, A Strategy for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology, and outlines the commitment to improving the position of women in SET employment, education and policymaking in the United Kingdom.

  7.3  Baroness Greenfield identified a number of factors in her report which hinder female participation and advancement in SET education and employment, including:

—  few visible female role models and mentors;

—  traditional family roles, responsibilities and expectations;

—  unequal pay;

—  institutionalised sexism;

—  intangible cultural factors that appear to exclude women from the corridors of power;

—  lack of transparency regarding pay and promotion procedures;

—  gender imbalance in the decision-making process and a lack of contacts or networks;

—  gender stereotyping;

—  poor careers advice;

—  the science curriculum is often viewed as lacking relevancy for young people generally but especially for girls who perceive "science" as "not for girls";

—  student debts have a disproportionate impact on women who are more likely to become detached from the labour market for a period of time;

—  cultural discomfort and a sense of isolation in a male dominated workplace;

—  the age of first permanent appointment, in academia, will usually be when women are most likely to be seeking to have children, which can affect their ability to get a foot on the career ladder;

—  difficulty in returning to a SET career following a career break because, for example, SET moves on quickly, there is a lack of affordable childcare, there is poor take up of work-life balance policies and few part-time working opportunities;

—  this is compounded by short term contracts, publication records affected by a career break, and academic success in part dependent on mobility and flexibility.

  7.4  Statistical data complements this qualitative analysis. The numbers of girls and women in SET education and employment is growing steadily. However, this general progress is not reflected across the full range of SET disciplines or at all levels of seniority.

  7.5  Female SET graduates dominate Scientific Technician occupations. Even in SET disciplines where there is significant female representation at undergraduate level, eg the biological sciences, women are not represented in proportions you would expect from their baseline at senior academic/industrial levels. The effects of vertical segregation in our SET sectors are multiple: it contributes to the gender pay gap; it means there are few visible role models for young women coming through the system; it has implications for the governance of SET.

  7.6  There is a continuing and persistent trend for men to dominate academic positions in SET cost centres and particularly higher academic positions. In SET academic departments, 9% of professors "wholly institutionally financed" were female and 15% of professors financed by other sources were female in 2000-01. In contrast, in 2002, 20% of all female SET graduates were in teaching occupations, compared to 8% of male SET graduates.

  7.7  Higher gender pay differentials are noted between SET and non-SET occupations. The gender pay gap is smaller for those in SET occupations and particularly for engineers and technologists (gender pay gap of 12%) and computer analysts and programmers (gender pay gap of 10%). In SET occupations men's hourly earnings tend to be higher than those of women in the same occupation. In SET occupations men's hourly earnings typically increase with age, whereas women's hourly earnings tend to remain the same or decrease with age.

  7.8  The key initiative of the Strategy is the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET, launched in September 2004. The Centre will work with SET employers, professional institutes and women to help remove the barriers that hinder female participation and advancement in SET. The broad functions of the Resource Centre will be to:

—  Champion best practice.

—  Develop a good recognition scheme for SET employers.

—  Raise the profile of women in SET.

—  Support female SET undergraduates make the transition to SET employment (DfES funded project).

—  Support SET returners.

—  Set up an expert women's database.

—  Maintain and disseminate statistics.

—  Co-ordinate the work of the women in SET organisations.

—  Pump-prime innovative initiatives eg mentoring, networking, mobility projects.

  7.9  One of the issues highlighted in the Greenfield report was the fragmentation and duplication of effort happening in the area of women in SET. The UK Resource Centre will be taking a strategic and coordinated approach to the women in SET agenda, which will maximise the effort, resources and experience of NGOs working to increase the participation of women in the SET workforce. It will provide a single and central source of information, support and guidance for women and SET employers by a dedicated and experienced staff. The Government is backing the initiative with £4.1 million over the next three years. Funding for the Resource Centre stands at £800K per annum for three years, plus £500K per annum for three years ring-fenced for initiatives for SET returners, plus a £200K one-off payment from DfES for an initiative for SET undergraduates. The Centre has already been successful in winning European funding and so there has been a very substantial increase in investment, commensurate with the Centre's core tasks.

  7.10  Women who have taken time out of SET careers for caring responsibilities often experience difficulties returning, and this can mean that skills, experience and talent are being lost from SET because of a lack of suitable opportunities. Difficulties in returning can be due to factors such as the fast pace of change in SET occupations or a lack of flexible working or part time posts. As a consequence the Government (through DTI) is making available an additional £500,000 per year for the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET to develop a dedicated returners package. This will address the issue from both the supply and demand side, and will include: an innovative UK-wide Returners Refresher Programme delivered through the Open University, which will include: mentoring, networking events and employer contact; web-based vacancy matching for employers and returners; information, advice, referral and follow up services via phoneline and website for returners and employers; and an employer-led returners scheme to facilitate more flexible, part-time and jobshare opportunities for returners.

  7.11  The Government provides direct support for the Women's Engineering Society (WES), specifically to fund their joint initiative with the Association of Women in Science and Engineering (AWISE) which provides a dedicated mentoring scheme for women in SET.

  7.12  As noted above, occupational segregation is foreshadowed by the educational experience of boys and girls. Gender stereotyping means that pools of talent for some occupations are influenced from a young age and this can, in turn, restrict the opportunities for young men and women to fulfil their potential when they enter the world of work. For this reason, the Government (through the Office of Science and Technology (OST) and DfES) is working to ensure that mainstream policies on science in schools, on careers advice and on higher education, take account of women in SET.

  7.13  We also work in partnership with many different organisations. Through DTI, the Government core funds the WISE campaign (women into science and engineering). This promotes science, engineering, technology and mathematics to girls across the UK, through initiatives such as SPARK magazine and role model posters. WISE is also supported by SEMTA (Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering, and Manufacturing Technologies), the Engineering Employers Federation, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Engineering Technology Board. WISE also run the WISE Awards, which recognise those who have actively addressed promoting science and engineering to women.

  7.14  Through DTI, the Government also funds SETNET and the Science and Engineering Ambassadors scheme, which aims to help young people understand the opportunities that a career in SET can offer by providing enthusiastic, vetted volunteers to work with young people and teachers.

Encouraging Black and Minority Ethnic women into SET

  7.15  In her report, Baroness Greenfield describes how women are under-represented in nearly all areas of scientific endeavour, and ethnic minority women even more so. Ethnicity will be mainstreamed through the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET.

  7.16  The Government recognises that certain ethnic groups are under-represented in the scientific workforce and is committed to tackling this at all levels. But the picture is complex with different barriers for different groups in different disciplines at different levels of SET education and employment, so it is important that we develop the right policies.

  7.17  The Government is working with public sector partners (eg Royal Society, UK Resource Centre for Women in SET) and key stakeholders including organisations representing black and minority ethnic groups (eg Afro-Caribbean Network for Science and Technology, Muslim Women's Group), to develop a strategy which will work across Government policy areas. £1.5 million has been made available over three years for programme delivery once the strategy has been agreed.

  7.18  We need to have a thorough understanding of the causes and effects so that we treat not only the symptoms. The Government (through OST and DfES) will work to explore issues around relevance of the SET curriculum to these groups and how SET can be used as a way to gain greater engagement in education across a range of subjects.

  7.19  A further concern is the under-representation of minority ethnic groups in teaching and the knock-on effect this has in terms of SET role models and aspiration raising for young people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups coming through.

  7.20  The Government (through OST) supported a recent Royal Society Conference, which included International Speakers, to discuss Black and Ethnic Minority representation in SET and will be considering the report to come out of this Conference. Government will also be taking into consideration the recommendations in the recent SEMTA Report (EMSET) aimed at increasing BME participation in SET.

  7.21  The Government has also contributed to the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA)-funded role models study, project-managed by the Royal Society, which specifically looks at the influences of role models on BME groups. We will ensure that the findings of the resulting Good Practice Guide are fed into all relevant Government policy areas.

  7.22  Science & Engineering Ambassadors (SEAs) from minority ethnic groups are represented in numbers reflecting their proportion in the population.

How is the Government working towards meeting its SET PSA target?

  7.23  By 2008, DTI will ensure that women make up 40% of the representation on SET related boards and councils (PSA target 9, sub-target 4i).

  7.24  There is a substantial attrition rate of women in the SET pipeline, which increases with seniority. This has implications for the governance of SET. The aim of the DTI target of 40% female representation on SET related boards and councils is challenging, but the benefits of such a target are multiple: it makes SET more representative; it raises the profile of women in this non-traditional field; and it means that different questions, different priorities, different perspectives are brought to bear on the direction of SET and its outcomes, to the benefit of all. With women under-represented in our SET sectors, the pool of potential applicants for vacancies on boards appears, at first glance, predominantly male. However, there are now in fact many well-qualified women who would be eligible for posts—the question is how to raise their visibility in traditionally male sectors. It is for this reason that the new UK Resource Centre for Women in SET is establishing a database of female SET experts. This will serve as a two-way tool: to enable SET boards to actively seek female expertise; and to increase women's awareness of the opportunities available.

  7.25  The percentage of women as a total of all the councils and boards in SET related fields has doubled, from 12% in 1992 to 24% in 2002.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AND RELATED INDUSTRIES

  7.26  Through the DTI, the Government is working in conjunction with a number of industry partners, and has supported a number of projects designed to address the under-representation of women in the Information Technology and related industries. Only one in five of the IT workforce are women and in the last few years their numbers have been falling steadily. From 2002 to 2003 the numbers declined from 23% to 20% (in 1997 the figure was 27%). The recent downturn in the IT industry (causing staff cutbacks in lower skilled IT jobs, which have a high proportion of women workers) and insufficient flexible working arrangements for the sector have been contributory factors to this fall.

  7.27  The following initiatives are addressing this issue:

—  The Intellect Women in IT Forum, supported by Government (through DTI), was set up to encourage more women into the IT industry, and once in it, to stay in it. The Forum has over 100 members from the Private and Public sectors, networking groups and academia. Since early 2003 the Forum has had two strands of activity—a research programme and a series of sessions to share best practice and ideas about how to recruit, motivate and retain women in the IT industry. To follow up these activities to raise industry awareness of the key issues, the Forum is currently working with DTI on a project to demonstrate to industry the business case for diversity.

—  Equalitec, a web-based resource supported by DTI, aims to address the problems of recruitment and retention of more women in the Information Technology, Electronics and Communications industries by bringing together relevant information for Women, Companies and Higher Education institutions.

—  Funding a Portia/Equalitec/Daphne Jackson Trust research project to examine and produce case studies on the factors that enable and constrain Women Returners to the Information and Technology Industry.

  7.28  Through its relationship management role with e-skills UK (the Sector Skills Council for the UK Information Technology, Telecoms and Contact Centres Industry), DTI has supported work on the following:

—  Influencing the way the media portrays careers in IT and people working in IT, via a career route map.

—  Providing better careers information about IT.

—  Identifying female role models to attract young girls into IT.

—  Hosting workshops for schools to explain IT to schoolgirls.

—  The establishment of Computer Clubs for Girls (CC4G).

—  Engaging school children, mainly girls, to join after school clubs. This programme has taken forward by e-skills (UK) Sector Skills Council and South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and has been a success with DfES looking forward to invest and take it forward with e-skills.

—  Plus, via e-skills UK Employers Curriculum Forum, in conjunction with South East of England Development Agency, the development, with University of Brighton, of a new degree curriculum, BSc (Hons) in Information Technology Management for Business, that specifically addresses employers' needs which is designed to be more attractive to women. It is expected to be available at selected universities from September 2005.

  7.29  Government, through the DTI, has also produced the following publications:

—  Flexible Working in the IT Industry: Long-hours cultures and work life balance at the margin? March 2004.

—  Achieving Best Practice in the Your Business: Maximising Potential Through Work—Life Balance. Case Studies from the IT Electronics & Communcations Industry, July 2004.

  7.30  DTI is also in the final stages of producing an interim report, Women in The IT Industry: Towards a business case for diversity.

  7.31  These publications have been designed to explore the barriers and promote Best Practice Solutions that will address the under-representation of women at higher level/high value roles in the IT Sector. They have been circulated at conferences and other events to raise awareness of the solutions with employers, training providers and HR professionals.

  7.32  Through the above initiatives, the IT industry has been given a more positive image which should help attract more women to the sector in the long term. The Government cannot control industry recruitment but we will continue to work with industry partners to address Women in IT issues. In addition, future activities in this area will be linked with the recently established UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (as part of the Resource Centre's remit includes the promotion of Women in IT). The Government is committed to improving the position of women in all under-represented sectors: this work formed an important element of the cross-Government Gender Equality PSA agreed as part of Spending Review (SR) 2002, which included a target to increase the proportion of women in the UK ITEC workforce from the 2002 figure of 23%. This important work will be taken forward as part of the Gender Equality PSA through SR04.

CONSTRUCTION

  7.33  The construction industry illustrates well the challenge of increasing the proportion of women in a traditionally male-dominated sector. Construction is hugely significant to the economy (representing 8.2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and with Gross Value Added (GVA) of £92.7 billion). With buoyant order books and well-publicised recruitment pressures, the potential contribution of women to the industry is also a strategic business issue. There are over two million people employed in construction, from trades people in a multitude of micro-sized firms, to the self-employed; including engineers, managers, or "knowledge" specialists, and central administrative personnel. Latest figures (Labour Force Survey, Spring 2004) show that overall some 10% of all construction workers are female. Females represent only 1% of manual employment; although interestingly they make up 3% of all trainees entering craft and technical construction courses. The proportion engaged in non-manual employment is 30%, while the proportion working in professional occupations (architecture, surveying and management) is 12% (National Statistics, Labour Force Survey, Spring 2004).

  7.34  As the industry's Sector Skills Council, CITB-ConstructionSkills is licensed by Government to develop and implement strategies to tackle skills and training needs. Given the low proportion of women in the industry at all levels, CITB-ConstructionSkills has a programme of activity in place to increase awareness of the issue, and ultimately increase the number of women in construction occupations. CITB-ConstructionSkills won the Investors in Women In Science & Engineering Award for 2004, and they work in partnership with DTI in connection with the new Resource Centre for women in Science Engineering and Technology (SET). In partnership with other specialist organisations, the SSC help train and encourage women, including BME and Muslim women, to enter construction. CITB-ConstructionSkills is currently undertaking a programme of research, with funding and project management support from DTI. Due to be completed by mid-2005, this will help inform future policy and guide appropriate interventions by stakeholders in both industry and Government.

  7.35  It is important that industry and Government work in partnership to address these challenges. The DTI's PSA target ("By 2008 working with other departments bring about measurable improvements in gender equality across a range of indicators, as part of the government's objectives on equality and social inclusion") provides an important focus for the construction sector generally, since Government policies across a broad front affect how industry responds. Government also has a key role to help ensure that industry activities complement each other and pull in the same direction.

CHILDCARE

  7.36  Addressing occupational segregation is not exclusively a question of enabling and encouraging women to work in occupations in which men predominate. It is also necessary to consider those occupations where women predominate and men are under-represented.

  7.37  Childcare has traditionally had a heavily gender-segregated workforce. Men currently constitute only around 2% of the workforce, although this is higher in some sub-sectors such as out-of-school clubs.

  7.38  The two main objectives of the Government's childcare workforce recruitment campaign, running since 2000, have been to attract more people generally to work in childcare and to attract a broader range of people so that the workforce becomes more diverse and more representative of the communities it serves. This latter objective has specifically focused on raising the participation of men, people with disabilities and those from black and minority ethnic communities.

  7.39  The recruitment campaign has made a robust effort to promote childcare as a career for men as well as women by emphasising how much they have to offer, including acting as role models to young children. It challenges the stereotypical view that childcare is a woman's role. Underpinning research for the campaign found that men working in the sector thought that they had a positive role to play in a child's life and that the work was satisfying and enjoyable. This research has enabled us to identify the attractions and barriers for men entering the workforce and to develop activities specifically aimed at encouraging them to consider working in the sector.

  7.40  The Government has featured pictures of men in all its campaign fulfilments, and has also produced a video aimed specifically at men who are considering entering the workforce. This video is sent to all men who call the national order line in response to advertising. Since 2000, the campaign has generated over 200,000 responses to the order line, with approximately 5% of these calls coming from men.

  7.41  This gender segregation of the childcare workforce is replicated internationally. Even in progressive childcare countries like Sweden and Denmark, men only make up around 10% of the workforce. This indicates the scale of the task that is faced in significantly increasing the proportion of men in the childcare workforce.

  7.42  The Government's 10 year strategy for childcare, Choice for parents, the best start for children, published in December 2004, restates our ambition that the workforce should be drawn from a much more representative section of society than is currently the case. Importantly though, it also recognises the crucial role that the workforce plays in determining the quality of childcare. The strategy sets out the Government's commitment to see the workforce reformed radically so that "working with pre-school children should have as much status as a profession as teaching children in schools". In terms of making the sector more highly skilled and more highly paid this is an important commitment.

  7.43  To this end, the strategy proposes a long-term vision of graduate early years professionals leading full day care settings, more workers trained to degree level, greater opportunities for existing workers to increase their skills and more opportunities for home-based carers to develop long-term careers. The strategy accepts that a better qualified workforce will lead to rising levels of pay. More specific proposals for reforming the childcare workforce will be published shortly, for consultation, in the children's services pay and workforce strategy.

TRANSPORT

  7.44  Women are under-represented in occupations for the transport and communication industry sector. One in 10 men in employment works in the transport and communication industry sector, compared to just 4% of all women in employment (Labour Force Survey, Spring 2004). Through the Women's Transport Network, Government encourages women to enter and progress in the transport industry. The overall aims of the Network are to:

—  secure wider understanding of women's specific transport needs and requirements;

—  accommodate these needs in the design and provision of transport and pedestrian environments;

—  encourage women to enter and succeed in the transport industry;

—  encourage women to contribute to transport planning and development at all levels;

—  provide a central reference point of publications and experience.

  7.45  The Network has a membership of about 250 and meets twice a year. Government plans to re-launch the Network in the Spring 2005. One of its priorities for the next 12 months will be on finding ways to encourage women into transport occupations with skill shortages.

8.  WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP

Regional Development Agencies

  8.1  The Government has been working in partnership with the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) to develop a constructive dialogue around issues such as equal pay, advancing diversity in the workplace, occupational segregation, and increasing levels of minority ethnic participation in the labour force at a regional level.

  8.2  Under the auspices of the DTI, the Government has established an ongoing network of contacts with RDAs in order to share examples of processes, business activity and other activity that demonstrate best practice in promoting equality and diversity across the regions, including encouraging women into higher-paid and higher-skilled jobs. This has also opened up opportunities, for example through the RDA Chairs and Ministers meetings, for RDAs to feed into government policy-making in this field, including the work of the Women and Work Commission.

  8.3  The Government has capitalised on cross-departmental initiatives that have a regional dimension by taking the opportunity to embed the principles and objectives of the DTI's gender and race PSAs in the Tasking Framework and guidance that shapes RDA strategic business documents. This includes objectives related to black, minority ethnic and women's economic participation.

  8.4  Work by the DTI to develop a new model for partnership working with the RDAs also addresses equality and diversity issues in terms of promoting best practice consultation with stakeholders, information sharing and improving evidence-based policy making by the RDAs as they develop their Regional Economic Strategies.

  8.5  These activities aim to raise awareness across a range of equality and diversity issues including encouraging women into higher-paid and higher-skilled occupations.

Regional Development Agency Pilots

  8.6  To increase opportunities for mothers who wish to return to work, Regional Development Agency-led pilots in London, the East Midlands and the South East will offer integrated programmes of support to provide women returners with advice on career options, access to training, work placements and good quality affordable childcare. The pilots will utilise strong links with local employers to ensure that the particular needs and advantages of returning women are recognised. In most cases, women participating in the programme will be guaranteed a job interview.

  8.7  These pilots are a good example of central Government and the regions working together towards a common aim. Government, through DWP, HM Treasury and DTI, is designing the process of evaluation, and Jobcentre Plus is one of our key delivery partners. If the model proves successful then, potentially, there is scope to explore whether it could be applied more widely, which could ultimately be helpful in terms of tackling both occupational segregation and the gender pay gap.

INDUSTRY

The Strategic Framework for Women's Enterprise

  8.8  The Government launched its Strategic Framework for Women's Enterprise in May 2003. Implementation of the Framework has resulted in a number of successes, though the pace of implementation in the regions needs to be accelerated in 2005.

  8.9  All nine English regions now have specific strategies to develop women's enterprise; some, such as the East Midlands, the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humber, have given it priority in their strategic planning. Also, all 45 Business Link Operators now have specific delivery plans for women's enterprise.

  8.10  The Government has recently reinforced its commitment to women's enterprise development with the joint Secretary of State for Trade and Industry/Chancellor announcement regarding the formation of a Women's Enterprise Panel to advise on a new Action Plan to achieve the Framework's target (20% female business ownership by 2006). The Panel, now established, will also explore options for the formation of a national Women's Business Council.

  8.11  Government is planning a national PR campaign to highlight the potential of women's enterprise for individuals, regional and national economies. The campaign will take International Women's Day (8 March 2005) as its first milestone and will continue until the end of 2005. In addition the Minister for Industry and the Regions and Deputy Minister for Women is undertaking a series of regional visits focussing on roundtable events to discuss aspects of women's enterprise.

Manufacturing

  8.12  Women are under-represented in UK manufacturing industry. According to the Labour Force Survey (Spring 2004), 7% of all employed women are in manufacturing compared with 19% of men. Women in manufacturing are under-represented at senior and skilled levels: 18% of those employees classified as managers and senior officials are women, while just 7% of the skilled workforce are women. In contrast, 74% of secretarial and administration employees are women.

  8.13  The Government's Manufacturing Strategy recognises that to compete successfully in the modern global economy, UK industry needs to move up the value chain, become more innovative and more highly skilled, and produce the high value added products which customers increasingly want. By taking steps to encourage women into higher skilled, and higher paid, positions in manufacturing we will encourage industry to make full use of all the talent that is available to it, and which is so vital to its long-term success. Doing so should also help to ease the skills shortages that many sectors face, while experience shows that more diverse workforces help companies succeed in new markets and expand their customer base. The Government therefore aims to encourage all manufacturing companies to adopt business strategies that will see more women occupying more highly skilled and paid posts. Doing so should be win-win: more women will fulfill their potential, while the competitive edge of our manufacturing businesses should be enhanced.

  8.14  The Manufacturing Forum, established in Autumn 2004, brings together Government, industry, trade unions, Regional Development Agencies, and other stakeholders, to ensure the effective implementation and evolution of the Manufacturing Strategy. The Forum held its first meeting in December 2004. It was agreed that the Forum will focus on a number of priority areas, including image of manufacturing. As part of this work, it is likely to look at what more can be done to encourage women into highly skilled and highly paid manufacturing jobs and to understand the potential of the sector to offer rewarding and exciting careers.

Boardroom Diversity

  8.15  In the UK, only 9.7% of the UK top company board members are women, and only 4.1% of those are in executive roles. Only one woman made it to CEO and only one woman chairs a FTSE 100 board. Increasing the numbers of women in the boardroom will help close the pay gap, which in 2002 was exacerbated by high growth in very high earning levels where men predominate.

  8.16  All organisations need to be concerned about developing their workforce to improve their company's performance and increase productivity. Research has shown that increasing the numbers of women business leaders increases company performance in many ways; improving the range of non financial performance measures that are monitored, achieving better corporate governance, selecting the best executives from a larger talent pool, extending the portfolio of skills, providing female role models for younger high potential women as well as placing companies closer to their customer base.

  8.17  The Government, through DTI, has been leading work in the area of boardroom diversity through commissioning of the Higgs and Tyson reports, producing the publication of Building Better Boards, holding a series of roundtables with leading businesses, commissioning the Cranfield Report on ethnic diversity in the FTSE 100 and supporting of the Female FTSE Index. In December 2004, a high level event, attended by many FTSE Chairs, was hosted at No 11 Downing Street.

  8.18  The publication Building Better Boards builds on the recommendations of Derek Higgs and Laura Tyson for more diverse and effective boardrooms. The new guide:

—  sets out the business case for effective diversity and better practices in the boardroom;

—  cites the benefits for companies, with evidence from some of Britain's best-known businesses and names; and

—  outlines Government and business-led initiatives to develop the talent pool of women.

Promoting Best Practice

  8.19  Government recognises the importance of encouraging corporates to consider their equality and diversity practices within their own talent pipeline. In 2004 the Government, through the DTI, developed a Diversity Best Practice Guide for Business. This was the end product of an initiative which involved research and interviews with leading companies. Many of these were in male-dominated sectors such as investment banking, oil & gas and IT. The objective was to identify best practice in the recruitment, retention and progression of women within these organisations. In particular the interviews focused on what the companies were doing to encourage more minority ethnic women into the organisation and into senior positions. To complement the publication of the Diversity Best Practice Guide, a networking event for 200 women from the organisations interviewed was held in November 2004, supported by DTI Ministers.

9.  BALANCING WORK AND FAMILY LIFE

Key Measures Introduced Since 1997

  9.1  The Government has introduced a substantial package of laws which benefit working parents. Prior to 1999, provision for working parents was limited to maternity leave and pay for mothers. In 1999 ordinary maternity leave was increased from 14 weeks to 18 weeks, and the qualifying service for additional maternity leave reduced from two years to one year. Alongside this the new right to parental leave gave adopters and fathers a right to time off to care for their child for the first time.

  9.2  Following an extensive consultation on the green paper "Work and Parents: Competitiveness and Choice" a further package of measures was introduced. The package extended ordinary maternity leave to 26 weeks and further reduced the qualifying service for additional maternity leave to 26 weeks so most mothers can now choose to take up to one year off work. Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and Maternity Allowance were extended from 18 weeks to 26 weeks and the rate substantially increased. From April 2003 the rate was £100, or 90% of average weekly earnings if that is less. This was raised to £102.80 from April 2004 (or 90% of average weekly earnings if that is less) and £106 (or 90% of average weekly earnings if that is less) from April 2005. Around 350,000 mothers stand to benefit each year from these improvements to maternity laws.

  9.3  Fathers and adopters were given the right to paid time off work to care for their children for the first time. Fathers can take two weeks' paternity leave with Statutory Paternity Pay paid at the same standard rate as SMP. Up to 400,000 fathers are eligible. Adopters can take one year's adoption leave with 26 weeks' Statutory Adoption Pay paid at the same standard rate as SMP. Up to 4,000 adoptive families stand to benefit.

  9.4  In addition to these rights to time off work, parents of children under the age of six and disabled children under the age of 18 were given a new right to request a flexible working pattern. Employers have a statutory duty to consider their requests seriously. In the first 12 months after implementation over 900,000 applications for flexible working had been made and around 800,000 were either fully or partly accepted.

  9.5  The 2003 working parents package was introduced following extensive consultation with employers and employees and their representatives. The measures support parents in balancing their work and family responsibilities in ways which also benefit business. Businesses which have work-life balance policies in place report that they benefit from increased skills retention and reduced training costs; reduction in staff turnover and recruitment costs; reduced absenteeism; increased employee morale and commitment, and improvements in productivity.

Supporting Parents and Carers

  9.6  In the 2004 Pre-Budget Report, the Government set out its vision for families: to ensure that every child gets the best start in life and to give parents more choice about how to balance work and family life. The Government believes that some of the measures set out in the Ten Year Strategy on Childcare will provide working families with more choice—for example, by providing better support for women returning to work after maternity leave, and helping even more working parents to work more flexibly. This may help strengthen women's labour market attachment, particularly those women who are in higher paid and managerial occupations. Supporting both men and women to care for their children may also help to address some of the cultural barriers that can make it difficult for women to take time out of the workplace to care for their children and then work flexibly when they return.

  9.7  As noted in paragraph 9.4, the right to request flexible working is currently available to all parents of children under the age of six and disabled children under the age of 18. The Government has now announced that it will bring forward proposals for discussion on extending the right to request flexible working to parents of older children and carers of sick and disabled relatives. In doing so, the Government wants to give more decision-making control to men and women caring for children or adults about how they balance their work and family responsibilities. In this way, the Government hopes that there will be more opportunities for people to combine paid employment and caring responsibilities, and to combine these in a flexible way.

  9.8  Alongside the legislation, work is taking place in specific sectors promoting the business case for flexible working, particularly in those areas which are traditionally male-dominated and where flexible working patterns are less well established (see for example paragraph 7.29 of this memorandum).

  9.9  The Government is also committed to extending Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance and Statutory Adoption Pay from 26 weeks to 39 weeks from April 2007 and then eventually to 52 weeks by the end of the next Parliament. This will enable more mothers to return at a point that suits their chosen combination of working and parental responsibilities and gives them longer to secure appropriate childcare arrangements. This may help a number of mothers to remain in a more appropriate job than would have been the case if they had returned to work after 26 weeks and then had to resign soon afterwards because of having gone back to work too early.

Ten Year Strategy on Childcare

  9.10  The Government is establishing universal early years and childcare services as a permanent, mainstream part of the welfare state. All families with children aged up to 14 who need it will have an affordable, flexible, high quality childcare place for their child from 8 am to 6 pm, all year round, that meets their particular circumstances and needs.

  9.11  Some of the Ten Year Strategy on Childcare announced as part of the PBR firmed up dates to policies already announced elsewhere. This included confirming the figure of 2,500 Childen's Centres (for pre-school children) to serve all 20% most disadvantaged areas and many pockets of deprivation by 2008, and a commitment to establish 3,500 Centres by 2010—one in every community. There are new measures, including an expansion of the free offer for three and four year olds and changes to tax credits to make childcare more affordable.

  9.12  In summary, the measures in the 10-year strategy are as follows:

  9.13  Choice and flexibility: Parents to have greater choice about balancing work and family life (responsibility DTI):

—  A goal of 52 weeks' paid maternity pay by the end of the next Parliament. As a first step extension of entitlement to nine months from April 2007.

—  Legislation to give mothers the right to transfer a proportion of this paid leave to the child's father by the end of the next parliament.

  9.14  Parents to have greater choice about balancing work and family life (responsibility Sure Start):

—  Every family to have easy access to integrated services through a Sure Start children's centre in their local community, including early learning, health, family support, childcare, information and other services for parents and children. 2,500 centres by 2008, with a goal of 3,500 by 2010.

  9.15  Availability: for all families with children up to age 14, who need it, an affordable, flexible, high quality childcare place that meets their circumstances:

—  A goal of 20 hours a week of free high quality care for 38 weeks for all three and four year olds. From 2006 all three and four year olds will receive their free entitlement over 38 weeks. From 2007 three and four year olds will begin to receive an enhanced free entitlement of 15 hours per week over 38 weeks with all receiving 15 hours by 2010. Parents will have flexibility to use the free entitlement across a minimum of three days (builds on current free offer for three and four year olds guaranteeing 12.5 hours per week over 33 weeks, currently in early education, but Five Year Strategy proposed that it should be more flexible and integrated).

  9.16  An out of school childcare place for all three to 14 year olds between the hours of 8-6 each weekday by 2010:

—  By 2010 all parents with children aged five to 11 will be offered affordable school based childcare on weekdays between the hours of 8 am to 6 pm, all year round. Half of all parents will be able to enjoy this service well before then, and at least by 2008.

—  By 2010 all secondary schools will open on weekdays between the hours of 8 am to 6 pm, all year round offering a range of activities such as music and sport. By 2008, at least a third of secondary schools will be making this offer, either themselves or in partnership with the private and voluntary sector.

  9.17  Quality: high quality provision with a highly skilled childcare and early years workforce, among the best in the world:

—  All full daycare settings to be professionally led.

—  Radical reform of the workforce, with the Children's Workforce Development Council consulting on a new qualification and career structure in 2005.

  9.18  Affordability: families to be able to afford flexible, high quality childcare that is appropriate for their needs (Inland Revenue lead):

—  Increase in childcare elements of the Working Tax Credit to £300 a week (£175 for one child) from April 2005. Increase in maximum proportion of costs that can be claimed from 70% to 80% from April 2006.

—  £5 million from April 2006 for a pilot to work with the Greater London Authority to address childcare affordability issues in London.

New Developments

  9.19  The Government will undertake a range of more detailed consultations on particular issues, including workforce, proposals for legislation, and a single quality framework. There will also be structured discussions with parents up and down the country early in 2005.

  9.20  This also includes a commitment to bring forward proposals for discussion with employers, unions and others, for extending the right to request flexible working to parents of older children and carers of sick and elderly relatives. It is important to seek the views of all those concerned and the Government has made clear that we will ensure any measures balance the needs of business with those of their employees.

  9.21  The experience of the 2003 employment laws shows that it is possible to reach a consensus between parents and employers and deliver a framework that works for them both. The Government is particularly aware of the challenges small employers can face in coping with longer periods of leave. The Government will work with employers to reduce the burdens of the extension, for example by looking at how we can give greater certainty to employers about when leave will begin and end.

  9.22  The Government believes that working parents should make a contribution towards out of school childcare costs, but that it is also important, in the interests of children and the economy, that we all do more to help. From April 2005, employers will be able to offer employees, right up the income range, £50 a week for extra childcare, free of tax or national insurance. For those on lower and middle incomes the Government will also raise and extend Childcare Tax Credit.

Transport Accessibility Planning

  9.23  The Government wants transport that works for everyone, and recognises the important role of transport in facilitating and determining the sort of employment women undertake. A key element of this is improving accessibility to places of work and other key services. Local transport authorities have been asked to include accessibility strategies in their next Local Transport Plans (due to be submitted in July 2005 and finalised in March 2006).

  9.24  An accessibility strategy should show how an authority intends to meet the accessibility needs of the people within its area. It should consider the different needs of different people, eg women, and focus on the key services, including work. Whilst the choice of accessibility priorities remains a local issue, authorities may choose to include within their strategy consideration of how their local transport policy can help women access a wide range of jobs.

10.  GOVERNMENT AS AN EMPLOYER

Importance of the public sector

  10.1  The public sector is a major employer of women. The Labour Force Survey (Spring 2004) shows that 42% of all women who work are engaged in occupations in public administration, education and health. Therefore an essential part of tackling occupational segregation and the gender pay gap is to understand the issues as they relate to the public sector. Government recognises its responsibility as an employer to tackle occupational segregation and the gender pay gap. It holds itself to account with ambitious targets, including commitments in the sub-target of the PSA 9.

Pay reviews

  10.2  We are leading by example in promoting pay reviews. The Government is dedicated to fair pay across the Civil Service. As an example of good practice and to show commitment to equal pay, all Government departments and agencies (88 in total) have completed equal pay reviews. This is reinforced by our toughened target of 45% of large organisations to have undertaken pay reviews by April 2008.

Women in Senior Roles

  10.3  The Government is committed to achieving a Civil Service that reflects the population we serve, including at senior levels. This commitment is underpinned by Public Service Agreements. In 1998 the Government made a commitment to ensure that the Civil Service becomes more open and diverse. This include the agreed targets of achieving by 2004-05:

—  35% of Senior Civil Service (SCS) to be women;

—  25% of top 600 posts to be filled by women.

  10.4  Evidence shows that the representation of women in senior roles of the Civil Service continues to increase. Civil Service staffing figures for April 2004 and Cabinet Office data (April 2004) indicate that:

—  24.4% of those in the very top management posts are women (up from 12.7% in April 1998)

—  27.8% of the Senior Civil Service are women (up from 17.8% in April 1998).

  10.5  The Government recognises the need for further progress and sustained effort to accomplish a Civil Service that reflects the population it serves. As part of Spending Review 2004, the Government set new targets for representation in the Senior Civil Service, as part of a wider commitment to build the capacity of the Civil Service to deliver the Government's priorities by improving leadership, skills and diversity, by achieving the following agreed targets by 2008:

—  37% of the Senior Civil Service to be women;

—  30% of the top management posts to be women.

Use of Headhunters

  10.6  Government uses headhunters to assist in the appointment of the boards of the more than 900 public bodies that Departments sponsor, and also to the many Senior Civil Service positions. In December the Government announced that it would be leading by example in its use of headhunters. The Cabinet Office-managed call-off contract for executive search services across Government is up for renewal. As part of the tendering process Government will be challenging headhunters on their diversity track records. Two significant practical changes have been agreed:

—  First, as a minimum Government will be looking for more diverse fields of candidates from the headhunters at every stage and actively monitoring their performance.

—  Second, it will be encouraging the search companies to coordinate their approach to supporting "near-miss" candidates, offering them detailed feedback and help through mentoring and coaching.

National Health Service

  10.7  There are a number of initiatives that the Department of Health is working with the NHS on that will encourage women into higher paid and higher skilled occupations. Key amongst these are the principle of equal pay for work of equal value enshrined within Agenda For Change. The Department recognises that by making the NHS a world class employer, it can recruit and retain the staff it needs to meet the overall activity targets and thereby produce benefits for patients. Case study is at annex B.

Pay and Workforce Strategy for Local Government

  10.8  The Pay and Workforce Strategy for Local Government addresses some of the causes and effects of occupational segregation on the gender pay gap in local government. The overall purpose of this strategy is to support councils in maximising the capacity and performance of their workforce to deliver continual improvement in local government. Case study is at annex C.

The Fire and Rescue Service

  10.9  Women are well represented in both the support and fire control roles within the Fire and Rescue Service. However, in spite of the fact that men and women share the same national terms and conditions of employment, including pay, just over 2% of those carrying out an operational role are women. The Government has been working with the Fire and Rescue Service for a number of years to improve the representation of women in the Service. Case study is at annex D.

11.  TOWARDS A MORE REPRESENTATIVE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

Women in Political Life

  11.1  The Government is committed to achieving a fair representation of women in political life and is taking action to encourage more women to seek elected office. The Government recognises that an increase in women's involvement in political life will lead to more inclusive decision making, reflecting the greater diversity of experience of those making the decisions.

  11.2  In 2002, the Government introduced the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act to enable political parties, if they wished to do so, to adopt positive measures towards women's increased participation. Positive measures include the use of quotas, twinning of constituencies, "zipping" of party lists and targeted training and mentoring.

  11.3  In the UK, in part as a result of the use of positive measures by political parties, 18.1% (119 in total) of MPs are women, 28.6% (six in total) of Cabinet Ministers are women, 39.5% of Members of the Scottish Parliament are women and 50% of Assembly Members in the Welsh Assembly are women. In the newly devolved institutions in Scotland and Wales there is evidence that the relatively high number of women have had a discernible impact on shaping their policy agendas. In both bodies, women parliamentarians have championed issues such as childcare, the social economy and equal pay.

Public Appointments

  11.4  The Government's objective is that boards of public bodies should have an overall balance of men and women, and this sub-target aims for women to comprise over 40% of appointments to public bodies by 2005. Latest outturn for 2003 was 35.7%, as contained in the Cabinet Office publication Delivering Diversity in Public Appointments 2004.

  11.5  In its report, Government by Appointment: Opening up the Patronage State, the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) recommended that "officials who play a role in making public appointments should receive appropriate professional training in equal opportunities and appointments procedures". A similar recommendation was made by the Cabinet Office Short Life Working Group (SLWG) on Improving Diversity in Public Appointments. In taking these recommendations forward, the Cabinet Office is currently piloting three short briefing sessions for members of the Senior Civil Service who will be involved in a public appointments competition for the first time, or would benefit from refreshing their knowledge. The briefings provide an overview of the public appointment process, and the role of senior officials in that process, and enable participants to undertake a fair appointments process that is fully compliant with both the Commissioner for Public Appointment's Code of Practice and equality legislation.

12.  GOVERNMENT'S UNDERLYING COMMITMENTS: PUBLIC SERVICE AGREEMENT (PSA) TARGETS

  12.1  The cross-Government gender equality PSA agreed in SR02 (reporting period 2002-05), comprising individual eight departmental targets, was developed to fill a critical gap in Government policy. There is considerable added value in a Gender Equality PSA objective, over and above discrete objectives and targets on specific issues owned by Government departments. The gender equality PSA:

—  demonstrates the Government's commitment to gender equality;

—  ensures clarity and integration across Government on its gender equality objectives and ensures that there are mechanisms in place to monitor, deliver and importantly build on those objectives; and

—  gives individual departments leverage over the mainstreaming of gender equality as part of the core activities in achieving their key objectives.

  12.2  The gender equality PSA objective ensures that the Government's equality objectives are mainstreamed into the areas of policy-making process and service delivery.

  12.3  The Report Delivering on Gender Equality published in June 2003 sets out specific targets and initiatives across Government, which the Ministers for Women believed were key to delivering improvements in gender equality and tackling inequalities that in most cases still affect more women than men. These targets cover the key delivery targets and the key government priorities for action; including measures to tackle the pay gap, employment into under-represented sectors, options for flexible working, childcare and fear of crime. The DTI, working with other Government departments, has responsibility for delivering the gender equality PSA.

  12.4  The report also sets out the broader context of the work going on across Government to make a positive impact on gender equality, and it is essential to recognise this important body of work, which often has less leverage because of the lack of formal targets. Key areas include skills, education, ill-health, transport and encouraging men into under-represented sectors such as childcare.

  12.5  The DTI's Women and Equality Unit has undertaken a programme of action throughout the PSA reporting period to raise the profile of the PSA targets within Government departments by way of official bi-lateral meetings, and to ensure good progress is made.

  12.6  A high-level Gender Equality Steering Group was formed during 2003 comprising departmental Equality and Diversity policy lead officials across Government, and from the Devolved Administrations. In addition to representatives from the key twenty spending departments, there are also have representatives from HM Treasury, the Women's National Commission, and RDAs.

  12.7  The remit of the Gender Equality Steering Group is to:

—  monitor the development of the targets set out in Delivering on Gender Equality—June 2003 and updated in the Progress Report 2004, and provide a response to HM Treasury about progress;

—  identify possible risks to the delivery of the Gender PSA and explore remedial solutions;

—  take forward the initiatives outlines in Delivering on Gender Equality—June 2003 with the aim of bringing about measurable change;

—  provide a vehicle for gender equality work across other Government Departments on gender and diversity, forming effective communications links and facilitating the reciprocal exchange of information; and

—  to promote gender mainstreaming.

  12.8  Progress has been closely monitored and is being included in a Summary of Progress, together with a selection of case studies to showcase developments.

  12.9  The DTI's Women and Equality Unit successfully secured a further cross-cutting gender equality PSA as part of the SR04 negotiations. The majority of departments that signed up to SR02 have also signed up to SR04 (reporting period 2005-2008). In addition to ensuring some of the SR02 targets and indicators were carried forward into the forthcoming spending round, new targets were also added in order to broaden the scope of the PSA. Coverage of second tier pensions and an increase in the public transport use of men and women have also been included.

13.  LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Women and Work Commission

  13.1  Making progress on the gender pay gap is a key priority for Government because it is necessary to draw on the skills and talents of all potential workers to ensure that women's skills are being fully utilised in business and the economy. That is why the Government was pleased to announce the launch of the Women and Work Commission on 27 September 2004, chaired by Baroness Prosser. The Women and Work Commission will examine the wide-ranging influences on the gender pay gap (including occupational segregation), think creatively, and within a year make recommendations to the Prime Minister on tackling the pay and opportunities gap.

  13.2  The Commission's terms of reference were announced on 27 September 2004, and are broad and wide-ranging. In summary, the Commission will look at:

—  How men's and women's education and skills affect which jobs they can get;

—  Promotion and career progression—the "glass ceiling";

—  Women's experiences in the job market before and after having children;

—  The different experiences of women working full-time and part-time;

—  Public sector issues, as a substantial employer of women.

  13.3  The Government believes an independent Commission is the most effective way of considering these complex and inter-related issues seriously, and making recommendations to ensure women's fair opportunities at work. Membership of the Commission encompasses men and women from both sides of the social partnership, education and skills experts, and other experts from a wide range of fields. DTI is the government department charged with supporting the Commission, providing an overarching co-ordination role, including project management and administrative support. This is carried out by DTI's Women and Equality Unit, in liaison with other Government departments.

  13.4  The Commission will build upon the joint DTI/DfES action plan Equality, Opportunity and Choice: Tackling Occupational Segregation which was launched in October 2004, to ensure that momentum is maintained in relation to Apprenticeships and occupational segregation more generally. The Women and Work Commission will be drawing on the findings of the Equal Opportunities Commission's General Formal Investigation on Occupational Segregation, which will be helpful in terms of boosting the existing evidence base for the Women and Work Commission's recommendations in relation to occupational segregation. The Women and Work Commissioners include the Chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission.

Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR)

  13.5  We anticipate that the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) when established will press the case for economic equality for women, including tackling the gender pay gap, continuing the Equal Opportunities Commission's work in this area. Through acting as a powerful voice for equality, the CEHR should help improve the climate for the measures in the memorandum generally. The introduction of a duty on public bodies to promote equality of opportunity for gender, envisaged on much the same timescale, will require public bodies to ensure that their policies and practices provide fair outcomes for men and women, including addressing questions bearing on occupational segregation where this is relevant to their remit.

Promoting under-represented groups among women

  13.6  Work to address occupational segregation and the gender pay gap also needs to be set against PSA 10—Government's commitment to promote ethnic diversity and co-operative employment relations. The Government has a Public Sector Agreement to:

—  By 2008 promote ethnic diversity, co-operative employment relations and a greater choice and commitment in the workplace, while maintaining a flexible labour market.

  13.7  Previous Government work in this field has focused on encouraging entrepreneurship in disadvantaged areas, understanding and tackling discrimination through research and the work of tribunals, access to business support through the business link network, and working across government and with key stakeholders to identify some of the barriers to minority ethnic women and men succeeding in the workplace—eg islamaphobia and religious/racial discrimination.

  13.8  The Employment Equality Regulations were introduced in December 2003 to protect individuals from discrimination in employment and vocational training. For the first time, individuals are protected from unfair discrimination and harassment on grounds of sexual orientation and religion or belief in the workplace. The legislation affords equal opportunity in access to employment and vocational training and also covers aspects of the employment relationship, from applying for a job, to treatment in the workplace and terms and conditions. It is having a positive impact on the lives of many in ensuring they are not disadvantaged in applying for jobs, receiving vocational training to develop their skills and accessing promotion opportunities. DTI has provided funding to a number of non-governmental and voluntary sector organisations to help raise awareness and understanding of the legislation among employers and individuals, including a number of organisations from different communities, including the Muslim Community.

  13.9  Government, through the DTI, is engaged in outreach work with Muslim women to ensure a Muslim perspective is woven into government policy, and also to identify issues affecting Muslim women in the workplace and their communities. The main governmental forums for discussion are the Minister for Women's Muslim Women's Group which meets bi-annually and the Women's National Commission's Muslim Women's Network which meets quarterly. Members of these groups have held discussions with the Office of Science and Technology to identify how to encourage more Muslim girls into SET.

  13.10  ACAS has employed a number of Diversity and Equality Advisers who focus on helping employers develop or revise and implement practical equality policies in the workplace. Much of this work will help combat discrimination in recruitment and so help minority ethnic women to access a wider pool of jobs. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has a statutory duty to have due regard, in exercising its functions, to the need to promote equality of opportunity, including between men and women. Reflecting this duty, the LSC's recently published Annual Statement of Priorities[64] includes a commitment to ensuring that learners of all ages and backgrounds are able to realise their potential, improve their life chances and contribute to economic growth. In addition, the Council has committed to responding to the outcomes of the EOC's investigation into gender stereotyping and to ensuring that its work in support of economic competitiveness and social inclusion come together in local plans and actions.

"Work Works" Pilot

  13.11  In September 2003, the Chancellor and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions asked the National Employment Panel (NEP) to convene a Steering Group of business leaders to examine what more might be done, particularly by employers, to increase the numbers of lone parents who get, stay and progress in work.

  13.12  The Group developed a range of proposals which represent an action agenda for Government and employers, focusing on the six metropolitan areas where the largest numbers of lone parents live.

  13.13  The findings and proposals were published within the National Employment Panel (NEP) Work Works report on 8 April 2003. One of these proposals supplied evidence that indicated there was demand for Level 3 jobs in childcare and that lone parents were willing to access this in order to achieve higher paid employment. [65]

  13.14  In response the Chancellor announced in Budget 2004 that from October 2004, in the six Work Works cities, [66]lone parents on Income Support who are on or wishing to join New Deal for Lone Parents have access to NVQ3/SNVQ3 level training in childcare, and one other skill. The other skill will be determined locally in sectors where local employers identify a demand for skills and where routes into work may not have been traditionally accessed by lone parents, possibly including, for example, scientific and technical services. This course will normally take two years to complete and in light of this a training premium will, exceptionally, be payable for up to 104 weeks. The pilot is scheduled to end March 2006 and Government's assessment of the results will feed into future policy thinking.

14.  FUTURE STEPS

  14.1  The Government has made some progress in mainstreaming gender issues and our policies have been underpinned by a dedicated gender equality PSA objective. PSA 9 measures and reflects our commitment to meet our challenging self-imposed targets for improving gender equality across a range of influences, including the gender pay gap and occupational segregation.

  14.2  While we have made considerable progress we recognise that there is still a long way to go. In the short term, we need to continue to build on the consensus reached in autumn 2004 at the Gender and Productivity Summit, at which the Government, the CBI and the TUC agreed that tackling occupational segregation is important to tackle skill shortages. We will continue to work with the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) in the context of their forthcoming final report which will conclude their General Formal Investigation into occupational segregation. Looking more towards the longer term, we look forward to receiving the recommendations of the Women and Work Commission in autumn 2005.

  14.3  As we look ahead to delivering on equality more broadly, to PSA 10 on race, and to the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, it is important that we continue to maximise on cross-departmental opportunities and to work in partnership with our stakeholders, including RDAs and industry.

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63   The four SSCs are SEMTA (Science, Engineering, Manufacturing, Technology), e-skills (IT, Telecomms, Contact Centres), CITB-ConstructionSkills (Construction) and Skillset (Broadcast, film, video, interactive media and photo imaging). Back

64   The skills we need: Our Annual Statement of Priorities published December 2004, available via the Learning and Skills Council website: www.lsc.gov.uk Back

65   National Employment Panel-Work Works-Chpt 2-p 8-April 2003. Back

66   The six cities are London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. Back

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Prepared 19 May 2005