The UK’s Treasury Select Committee has launched an inquiry to examine the progress made in removing gender pay gaps and supporting gender equality in financial services workplaces. The inquiry explores the responsibility that Government, firms, and regulators should have in combating sexual harassment and misogyny. The CIPD’s response includes recommendations for employers and Government to help improve gender equality, drawing on data from our Inclusion at Work Survey 2022.

“To really support gender equality at work, organisations need to lead from the top. To help employers make meaningful change, there must be practical guidance on how to use data to improve gender equality in access to work and progression.” 

Jill Miller, Senior Policy Adviser – Diversity and Inclusion, CIPD

The CIPD’s recommendations to employers include: 

  1. Support leaders and managers to genuinely champion gender equality as role models by ensuring they receive on-going training and support, and understand the importance and value of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to the business.  
  2. All policies and people management practices need to be understood through evidence and data, with guidance for employers on how to use evidence and data effectively. 
  3. Organisations should foster a culture where employees feel able to engage and give their views.  

 The CIPD’s recommendations to government include:   

  1. Make the provision of a narrative and action plan a mandatory element of Gender Pay Gap reporting 
  2. Conduct a review of workplace reporting among large employers to improve consistency of disclosures about the workforce as a means to tackle discrimination and improve inclusion at work 
  3. Develop a new statutory code of practice and accompanying guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, covering discrimination in employment and work-related activities 

Read our full response

Our response to the Treasury Select Committee inquiry into sexism in the financial services industry
PDF document 264.3 KB
  • Data

    Gender pay gap

    Explore the CIPD's detailed analyses of 2025/2026 gender pay gap reporting in the UK and Northern Ireland, updated in May 2026. CIPD members can also download these datasets to benchmark and compare your organisation's performance against national data.

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    Workforce diversity - Sex

    Compare your organisation's workforce breakdown by sex against UK benchmarks, using the CIPD's expert analyses of the UK Annual Population Survey. CIPD members can also download the datasets to use in your internal presentations, discussions, and business cases.

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