Emma Reynolds, Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East and Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, is supporting steps to ensure that Britain’s biggest companies act to eliminate the pay gap between men and women.

The gender pay gap is the difference in earning power between men and women for the same work. Under new legislation, big businesses employing over 250 people will have to publish in their annual reports the pay gap between men and women from next year. However, this information will not be centrally recorded in one place.

Labour’s proposal would go further. It would mean that these companies are subject to an annual audit to reveal which ones are paying women less than men. This “annual equal pay check” would be carried out by the independent Equalities and Human Rights Commission and published as a single list, thus ensuring higher scrutiny.

Labour held a debate in the House of Commons yesterday to discuss its proposal.

Emma said “Britain still has a gender pay gap of 19%, the sixth highest in the European Union. This equates to women earning 81p for every pound earned by men. That is why I am calling on the government to do something about this.

“The work that men and women do is equally valuable, there should therefore be equal pay. It is not good enough that we are behind countries like Italy and Poland when it comes to ending the gender pay gap.

“I want to see the pay gap eliminated as soon as possible so that women and men in Wolverhampton and across the country get paid the same for the same work.”