Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:41 pm on 9 November 2021.
Thank you, First Minister. We see clearly in our workplaces just how economic inequalities do merge with other inequalities, such as gender inequality, and figures published recently reveal that the gender pay gap is 12.3 per cent in Wales—a figure that Chwarae Teg has described as disappointing, as it is 0.7 per cent higher in Wales than it was last year. This goes up to 20.7 per cent in the area in which I live and I represent, namely Neath Port Talbot. The figures have been broken down by local authority, and that local authority is the one with the fifth highest pay gap in Wales. So, how is the Government going to close this gap in those sectors that it has control over, and to encourage other sectors to do likewise? And given particularly the Government's aim of encouraging 30 per cent of the workforce to work from home in future, what plans are in place in order to ensure that the change in working habits is one that eradicates inequalities rather than one that deepens and widens the gender pay gap and other long-established structural inequalities? Thank you.