Asked by Baroness Scott of Bybrook To ask Her
Majesty’s Government what support they are giving to local
government to increase the number of women in leadership roles to
be more in line with those in central government and the private
sector. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Communities and Local Government and Wales Office (Lord...Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving
to local government to increase the number of women in
leadership roles to be more in line with those in central
government and the private sector.
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Communities and Local Government and Wales Office (Lord
Bourne of Aberystwyth) (Con)
My Lords, on International Women’s Day, I will open with
congratulations to my noble friend; she has been a leader in
local government for well over a decade now. As she knows,
the Government are fully committed to equality for all. We
continue to provide support to the local government sector to
achieve this—for example, through our support of the Local
Government Association’s work. Effective, representative
leadership is at the heart of our democracy. As independent
bodies, local authorities have a responsibility to ensure
that this is the case for local government in the workforce,
in political life and beyond.
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(Con)
My Lords, only 14.7% of local authorities are led by women. I
do not think that is enough. We can compare that with the
Government, where we have our second woman Conservative Prime
Minister, whose Cabinet is 35% women. How can Her Majesty’s
Government support local government with initiatives to
increase the number of women in senior roles in local
government, particularly with lessons learned not only by
central government but by the private sector?
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My Lords, my noble friend is certainly right with those
statistics. The £20 million annual budget to deliver a range
of programmes offering support and assistance to local
government through the LGA includes specific measures
accentuating opportunities for women. For example, in October
2016, a “Be a Councillor” event was geared particularly
towards women and as a result we now have more women
councillors.
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(LD)
My Lords, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day
is “Be bold for change”. I would welcome the Minister’s
commitment to be bold for change, not just by giving some
money to the LGA to encourage more women to become
councillors but by being proactive in encouraging more women
to be council leaders. Until 50% of councils are led by
women, we should not be satisfied. Does he agree?
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My Lords, across the range I agree. All political parties
have a part to play in this. If we look at representation in
Parliament, the noble Baroness will be aware that in the
general election the Liberal Democrats did not elect a single
woman MP. That has now improved: they have one. We all have a
part to play; certainly the Government do. Political parties
have a part to play, as do private industries. All of us
together need to improve the position in public life and
private life.
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(Lab)
My Lords, having more women in local government is essential.
It is often a precursor to office in other fields, such as
becoming a Member of Parliament. Does the Minister agree that
women want to serve but there must be a responsibility, as he
said, on all political parties to ensure that women are
treated equally? Does he therefore agree that the Government
should adopt the recommendation from the Women and Equalities
Committee in another place that, to achieve parity among
candidates, we need legislation that involves financial
penalties for underperformance, and that this measure would
increase the number of women councillors and women in all
walks of elected positions? This happens in other countries.
Will he comment on that and do his best to make sure it
happens?
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My Lords, I know the noble Baroness has done considerable
work in Wales in relation to the National Assembly. She will
be aware that there was a mandatory position on all-women
shortlists, or twinning at one stage, although that has since
been dropped. There are many ways that we can achieve
success, and part of it is through action by political
parties and part through action by government. She will
perhaps be aware that today the Prime Minister and the
Chancellor have announced £5 million to assist women
returning to work. This is the sort of thing we need to look
at. Action needs to be taken perhaps on indirect
discrimination which has affected women and on the gender pay
gap we have, but there are many different matters that can be
addressed, and I do not think there is a silver bullet.
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(Con)
My Lords, what support are Her Majesty’s Government giving to
encourage a greater proportion of women in leadership
positions in central government?
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My Lords, the position in central government has been
improving steadily. In local government, 25% of chief
executives are women, while in my own department more than
50% of the workforce are women. The Permanent Secretary,
Melanie Dawes, is the champion for women across government
and has been doing things today for International Women’s Day
and on a regular basis. Central government can set an example
that we hope will be picked up in the private sector,
although it has to be said that the private sector has
improved significantly over the last five years.
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(Lab)
My Lords, I am sure the whole House wants to see the proper
and appropriate representation of women in local government,
in central government and in the professions. But would the
Minister accept that with the increasing drive to larger and
larger local government units, pushed by the Treasury, the
proportion of women drops off? Women are more highly
represented in the smaller authorities than in the larger
ones, let alone LEPs and combined authorities. That is
because of the cost, particularly in rural areas, of
transport, childcare and so on, which falls in practice
disproportionately on women and makes them unable to stand.
The Minister has talked about indirect discrimination, but
could he also look at institutional discrimination, in which
the structures bear down more heavily and inappropriately on
women?
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My Lords, I take issue with the noble Baroness in relation to
some of that. I do not think there is anything inevitable
about women not being encouraged or able to lead larger
organisations. For example, we are looking in government at
the FTSE 350 companies, where there has been considerable
improvement on leadership over the last five years. I accept
what she says about the challenges, which we have to address,
but I do not think there is anything inevitable about women
not leading larger organisations—although she perhaps did not
mean to imply that. The Government need to look at some of
the indirect measures that we can take.
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