Equality Bill

I totally disagree because the message and intention behind disclosure would affect all areas in which women find themselves discriminated against; it does not pertain only to the market share of this problem, which the hon. Gentleman sees as so minimal and I see as so great. A series of Liberal Democrat new clauses are designed to deal with the issue of equal pay for women—involving mandatory pay audits, representative action, hypothetical comparators and defence of material factors. The issue is so important, which is why I am so pleased to debate this group of amending provisions on the Floor of the House. As the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Ms Clark) made so clear, it would be unforgiveable if women in this country did not secure the laws they need to bring about change to a disgraceful situation that has applied for nearly 40 years since the Equal Pay Act 1970. I am pleased that the hon. Lady tabled new clause 33, which is identical to the Liberal Democrat new clause 3 other than in respect of the numbers for the mandatory pay audit to kick in—100 for us, as opposed to 21. We based our figure of 100 on the pre-evidence submissions—by the Women's Commission, I believe. We view 100 as providing a reasonable level at which companies could operate without enormous expense. Quite frankly, we do not believe that the expense will be enormous at all, although the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare seems to think that it is prohibitive. It was clear to me in Committee that there was a great deal of support among both Labour and Liberal Democrat Members for mandatory pay audits. New clause 3 revisits the issue, and I shall be seeking to test the will of the House in relation to it. Mandatory pay audits are important in that they expose overall patterns of pay—although not individual salaries—to public scrutiny. The new clause would ensure that, at last, pay discrimination had nowhere to hide. Where we differ with the Government is on the question of whether audits should be voluntary or mandatory. Opponents of equal pay measures often argue that there can be no discrimination in the marketplace because that is the point of a market: firms that discriminate will be worse off. However, when an opportunity was provided to strengthen market pressures by ensuring that pay scales were disclosed—to give the market more information, which is what free-market theorists tells us that it needs—where were those people? They backed off as fast as they could, making themselves scarce. Mandatory pay audits are supported by Unison and the Fawcett Society. The problem with the Government's proposal is that it only suggests that information be published voluntarily until at least the year 2013. As has already been pointed out, the Equal Pay Act was passed 39 years ago, but according to the latest figures that I have from the Office for National Statistics, women are still paid 17 per cent. less than men. We should bear in mind that the Equal Pay Act was sparked by the gender pay gap. For every pound that men were paid at Ford's Dagenham car plant, women earned only 85p. On 7 June 1968 the women went on strike, but it was only when they were joined by the women and the men at the Ford's Liverpool plant that the company caved in and the Equal Pay Act was spawned. The point that I am making is that it takes both sexes to make the change.