The LNP is committed to representing the needs of a diverse group of stakeholders. ~The LNP exists for everyone - our goal is to put nature at the heart of decision making in the county for the benefit of the society and economy of Gloucestershire. But everyone is not yet represented on the LNP Board. Female participation specifically is low, and this has to change.
This is not a problem exclusive to the LNP. Female board membership across FTSE250 companies was at just 27.5% in 2019 - a long way off the 2020 target of 33%, let alone of being representative of society. (1) In the UK women are paid roughly 13% less than men - in November 2019 the LNP acknowledged and commented on the fact that, from 14th November onwards, women were effectively working for free. (2) Interestingly, Samira Ahmed recently won a landmark case against her employer, the BBC, for being paid less than her male counterpart, Jeremy Vine, for delivering the same work. (3)
Sadly, the problem is worse for the environment sector than the average - 14.1% discrepancy in pay for women vs men compared to the national average of 11%. This is predominantly due to the fact that men take up the majority of leadership roles - 77% currently. (4)
The commonly-cited excuse for gender imbalance in the boardroom is often 'well there aren't enough senior female leaders to choose from'. This simply isn't good enough. If we do not positively discriminate in favour of women in the recruitment processes, the situation will never change. Unconscious biases are strong and just that - unconscious. So working against them is difficult. To this end, the LNP has committed to 33% female rep by end of 2020, with a target of 50% by 2023 - in line with the targets set for the FTSE250 companies.
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