30 July 2004
The government's Women and Work Commission was universally welcomed by unions this week, but is unlikely to defuse the 'ticking time bomb' of equal pay claims in the public sector.
Announced at the Labour Party's National Policy Forum on July 24, the commission will investigate the problems of the gender pay gap. It will be headed by Baroness Margaret Prosser, a former deputy general secretary of the T&G.
The commission, which will report directly to the prime minister in 12 months, will investigate access to education and skills, the effect of having children, promotion and career progression and the differences in full-time and part-time work. Its membership will be announced in the autumn but will include men and women from a 'range of backgrounds'.
Figures show that the gender pay gap across both private and public sectors stands at 18% for full-time workers and 40% for part-time.
The commission is timely, as equal pay claims rise across the public sector. This week, the 1,957 equal pay claims in the Prison Service were upheld, while Unison said it had thousands of outstanding claims in local government alone.
'Unequal pay is a significant problem in local government,' said Fiona Westwood, Unison's national officer for job evaluation, single status and equal pay.
'Only 20% of councils have completed pay and grading reviews, despite Single Status seven years ago. We welcome the commission but it's early days and we don't know what its content will be. At this stage it won't slow down or alter what's happening in local government.'
This year's local government pay settlement set a deadline for pay and grading reviews to be completed by April 2007. The issue of how these will be funded remains unresolved.
The T&G said it also had thousands of claims pending across both sectors. A spokesman said the commission 'would be treading over well trodden paths' and hoped it would recommend ways to speed up equal pay audits across Whitehall.
Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt claimed that the government was already working towards closing the pay gap by requiring all Whitehall departments to carry out equal pay reviews.
So far 86 completed audits have been submitted.
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