Read: Diversity reporting is good for business

Measuring is not only a good way of checking how far you’ve come but also how far you still have to go. It provides information but can also inspire encouragement, determination and even good old-fashioned competitiveness. It’s also fundamental to change.

It’s very easy to commit to doing things better but being prepared to monitor what you are doing and publish the results is a much more honest and transparent indication of how well you are doing. In business, that was illustrated by the many warm words around equality following the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement last year. Many employers were quick to commit to a more inclusive approach but it is still hard to assess what has actually been achieved because so little data from companies is available.

With only 13 out of the 100 largest UK-listed employers currently revealing their ethnicity pay gaps, the view of the Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD) is that progress has been too slow and too inconsistent. 

I confess that I was sceptical of gender pay audits when they were being explored while I was an adviser in the Department for Business during the final term of the last Labour government, which lost office in 2010. But bluntly, the then Equalities Minister, Harriet Harman, was right and I was wrong.

The obligation to report on the gender pay gap, which was accepted and subsequently introduced by the Conservative Government, has started to make a difference. Mandatory for employers with more than 250 staff, it can provide information on how different groups are distributed across different pay bands and therefore how well a company is doing at attracting, retaining and progressing its staff.

But we need to go further, faster. Attracting and retaining the best people for the job matters more than ever following the pandemic. We need to make use of all the talent that exists in this country, with an acknowledgement that that is not just confined to certain schools, universities or social backgrounds.  People with potential often have less traditional academic histories and unconventional back stories but have demonstrated qualities such as resilience and determination that make them good candidates for employment.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that most minority ethnic groups earned less on average than white British people. In England and Wales the ethnicity pay gap stands at 2.3%. It varies markedly across the regions but the gap in London is currently 23.8%.

Lloyds of London recently announced that it will be setting an ethnicity target for the whole market with one third of all new employees to be from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. It is also aiming to achieve gender parity within ten years and has already set a target of 35% women in senior roles by the end of 2023 and 20% female representation on boards and executive committees.

This is a positive step but more businesses need to commit to measuring and publishing data so that current and potential employees, their clients and customers and their communities can judge for themselves on the progress made. It is only by creating fairer workplaces that we can kickstart real, long-term change.

Rt Hon Lord Walney, UK gornment’s independent adviser on Political Violence and Disruption in the House of Lords.