Today at the Diversity Business Summit Labour will set out
a “Diversity Charter Challenge” to improve the representation of
women and minorities in key sectors of the UK economy.
The party will challenge each sector to come together to
write its own diversity charter following the model set out by
Jayne Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money in her Women in Finance
Review.
Under Labour’s proposal, every sector with a major presence
in the UK economy will be mandated to develop and implement a
Diversity Charter.
This will begin with the extension of the Finance Charter
to cover race, ethnicity, sexuality, socioeconomic background and
disability, and the initial establishment of Charters for the
tech sector and for the creative industries.
The design of the Charters will be industry-led, and the
policy will be spearheaded by ‘diversity champions’ appointed by
the party.
Labour will appoint diversity champions across all sectors.
They will be prominent industry figures who have a proven track
record of championing diversity.
Our first diversity champion to be announced is actor and
comedian Sir Lenny Henry, who will be Labour’s diversity champion
for the creative industries.
, Shadow secretary of
state for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy commenting,
said:
“We must not only push for greater diversity at the very
top but at every level of a business, ensuring that all workers
are able to succeed, regardless of their race, ethnicity,
disability, sexual orientation or socioeconomic
background.
“Labour will create a high-skilled, high-wage,
high-productivity economy – and our diversity charters will
ensure that ‘good jobs’ are accessible to the many, not just to a
privileged few.”
Shadow minister for industrial strategy, science
and innovation MP commenting
said:
“Diversity is not an optional add-on, it is an economic
imperative – and Labour’s industrial strategy has been written
with this in mind.
“It’s no surprise that this Government is failing on
productivity and growth when key industries are failing to
utilise the talents of the whole population: only 5% of
leadership positions in the tech sector are held by women and
ethnic minorities are underrepresented across the creative
industries.
“By setting out diversity charters for major sectors of the
economy, we will provide transparency and accountability,
ensuring no company or sector can hide a dismal diversity
record.”
Sir Lenny Henry, Labour’s diversity champion for
the creative industries, commenting, said:
“My colleagues and I have been calling for greater
diversity in the creative industries for years but sadly only
baby steps have been taken to improve BAME representation in
sectors such as film and television.
“It’s fantastic that Labour is putting diversity at the
heart of its economic agenda and I look forward to hearing how
Rebecca and Chi plan to encourage a more diverse and inclusive
creative sector.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
· The
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
published a report in
August last year revealing that the ethnicity and disability pay
gap stood at 5.7% and 13.6% respectively across the economy as a
whole. Across Great Britain in 2016 the gender pay gap stood at
18.1% (ONS, 2016). While no data exists on a sexuality ‘pay gap’,
according to Stonewall, over a
quarter of lesbian, gay and bi workers are not open about their
orientation to colleagues.
· Jayne
Anne Gadhia’s Women in Finance Review set out plans for a
voluntary Women in Finance Charter which was subsequently
implemented and had attracted the support of 141 firms across the
financial sector as of July 2017.
· This
follows up last month’s announcement from Shadow Women and
Equalities Minister MP that a Labour government
would introduce tough new measures requiring companies above a
certain size to audit and report their gender pay gaps. Companies
making insufficient efforts to close the gap will face
fines.
