Government rules out mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting

The Government has ruled out bringing in mandatory reporting on the ethnicity pay gap, but has published its Inclusive Britain strategy which, it says, sets out 70 actions to tackle racial disparities, boost opportunity and promote fairness.

Those actions include deploying a new in-work support offer to every Jobcentre from April, with 37 new specialist Progression Champions to support working claimants to climb the career ladder, tackling ethnic pay disparities.

It will also work with industry to collect data on the ethnicity of business owners applying for finance and says there will be a new HSBC scheme to support more ethnic minorities to become entrepreneurs.

Other actions include:

• Developing regulatory standards and guidance to address potential racial bias in Artificial Intelligence
• Reforming public sector training on diversity and inclusion to ensure it is more evidence-based, impartial and inclusive.

Inclusive Britain was developed in response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities’  controversial report which made 24 recommendations to tackle ethnic disparities.

Sandra Kerr, Race Director at Business in the Community, said: “I am glad to see the government has set out their approach to take ownership of these issues, with guidance for employers on ethnicity pay gap reporting, and I am keen to work with the government to ensure that it is as impactful as possible.

“However, waiting on voluntary reporting is just too slow. Our research found that without government intervention we could be waiting until 2075 for employers to publish their ethnicity pay gaps. Mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting needs to be introduced by April 2023 as it plays a vital part in ensuring that the UK has a truly inclusive economy, that benefits people from all ethnicities and social backgrounds.”

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