Gender Pay Gap

– in the Scottish Parliament at on 16 December 2015.

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Photo of Colin Beattie Colin Beattie Scottish National Party

5. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that the gender pay gap in Scotland is 7.3 per cent, compared with 9.4 per cent in the United Kingdom. (S4O-05178)

Photo of Annabelle Ewing Annabelle Ewing Scottish National Party

Colin Beattie is correct to say that the figures that were published by the Office for National Statistics last month show that the gender pay gap has been persistently lower in Scotland than in the UK. The recent falls in the gender pay gap in Scotland relative to the UK have been driven by the growth of female earnings in Scotland. Other factors that contribute to the narrower pay gap in Scotland include increases in the number of older female workers and the fact that the gap is smaller in Scotland for the highest 10 per cent of earners.

I am sure that the member would agree that the fact that we are still talking about the issue in 21st century Scotland, 45 years after the Equal Pay Act 1970 came into force at Westminster, is beyond comprehension. That is why the Scottish Government has made it a priority in our programme for government to seek to address the factors that give rise to the gender pay gap, to the extent that we have the power to do so.

Photo of Colin Beattie Colin Beattie Scottish National Party

I am sure that the minister will agree with me that, despite that good news, any gender pay gap is too high. What steps is the Scottish Government taking to continue to reduce the gap?

Photo of Annabelle Ewing Annabelle Ewing Scottish National Party

As I said in my first response, the Scottish Government sees continuing to reduce the gender pay gap as an absolute priority, and we will seek to do whatever we can within the powers that we have. Some of the action that we are taking informs the broad approach that we must take to the issue. For example, we are tackling underrepresentation of women in senior management roles and in the board room through our partnership for change campaign, and we are strengthening our commitment to pay transparency by reducing from 150 employees to 20 employees the threshold at which public authorities must report on their pay gap. In addition, of course, we continue to promote fair work practices and to extend childcare provision.

There is no single answer to the problem. We will do everything that we can to ensure that, in 21st century Scotland, we can finally stop talking about a gender pay gap.

The Deputy Presiding Officer:

Question 6, in the name of Jenny Marra, has not been lodged and no explanation has been provided. I am afraid that this is the second week running that that has happened with no explanation. It is not acceptable, so I trust that an explanation will be forthcoming.

Question 7, in the name of Cara Hilton, cannot be called because Cara Hilton is unable to be in the chamber. An explanation has been provided for that.