Gloria De Piero MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for women and equalities, responding to reports of a government U-turn on equal pay transparency, said:

“This is fantastic news for women but why have they waited so long? Labour passed this law in 2010 but the Tories and Lib Dems ditched it. That’s five wasted years when we could have seen real progress to close the gender pay gap.

“The reality is that it’s only when the Government realised they would be defeated on this issue by Labour in the House of Lords that they saw the need to act.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

• A Labour amendment in the House of Lords due to be debated on Wednesday (11th March) to the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill would have implemented pay transparency through Section 78 of the Equality Act. The amendment had already gained significant cross-party support and was backed by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.

• Labour introduced a provision (Section 78) in the Equality Act 2010 to allow Government to require companies with over 250 employees to publish their pay gap. However on entering Government the Conservatives and Lib Dems shelved the proposal, claiming it was unnecessary.

• In a speech given on 22 June 2012 Lib Dem Minister for Women and Equalities Lynne Featherstone said:

"I firmly believe that for most companies who are trying to do the right thing, voluntary business-led initiatives are key. They secure more buy-in and achieve more lasting change than the big stick of legislation…[Think Act Report] is not about forcing companies to report information they don’t want to.”

• Last  year Labour revealed that after 5 years, just 5 companies voluntarily published their pay gap.