UK: women on company boards review and gender pay gap disclosure

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced yesterday that over 2,600 responses were received in respect of the call for evidence forming part of Lord Davies of Abersoch’s review into the low proportion of women on company boards: see here. The Institute of Directors published its response a couple of days ago (see here) and came down firmly against the use of quotas to increase the proportion of female directors.

The Government also published its equality strategy yesterday - see here (pdf) - and expressed the preference for "business-led measures to promote more women on to the boards of listed companies" (p. 15). The strategy document also explained the Government's preference for voluntary gender pay gap reporting by companies and, given this position, it is not surprising to learn that the Government has decided not to introduce mandatory gender pay gap reporting under Section 78 of the Equality Act 2010.