1. Leading by example on pay gaps
Women make up the majority of City Hall’s workforce – 54 percent – yet the most recent data published by the Mayor shows that women earn 6.1 percent less per hour than their male counterparts. As well as first publishing gender pay data in 2016 – a year earlier than required by law – the Mayor’s pioneering ethnicity pay audit in 2017 also revealed a stark gap for workers from minority backgrounds. The Mayor took immediate action to address the imbalance, including commissioning action plans from across the Greater London Authority Group and calling on employers across the capital to follow suit.
2. The #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign
2018 marks 100 years since the first British women won the right to vote.
To commemorate this landmark and ensure we continue to push for progress on gender equality in London, the Mayor launched his #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign: a year-long programme of events and activity celebrating the huge strides made in the past century, while fighting to end the gender inequality that remains.
3. Improving representation
One of the Mayor’s first acts in office was to commission a statue of suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett, the first monument to a woman to stand in Parliament Square, following a petition by activist Caroline Criado Perez. Designed by Turner Prize-winning artist Gillian Wearing, the bronze statue, unveiled on 24 April 2018, depicts Millicent holding a banner with her rallying cry, “Courage calls to courage everywhere”. Its place in the central London square will inspire generations to come.
4. Tackling violence against girls and women
The Mayor published a new Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, following an in-depth consultation with survivors, Londoners and police. It brings together partners across the city on wide-ranging measures – from a Women’s Night Safety Charter, to combating stalking and revenge porn, and educating school children on positive attitudes and behaviour – all aimed at making London the safest city in the world for women and girls.
5. Our Time – Supporting Future Leaders
Designed to tackle the lack of women at senior levels in the Greater London Authority (GLA) and across London, the Mayor’s new career development programme, Our Time, will pair high potential women with senior staff to help them propel them into leadership positions. The leadership programme will also be a model for organisations and businesses across London to follow, with a toolkit for employers in the works. The learnings from this will help inform how the GLA supports other underrepresented groups facing barriers to progression in the workplace.
6. Boosting childcare provision
Childcare can be a major obstacle to pay and workforce equality. The Mayor has set a requirement that childcare places must be considered in local planning decisions, while a network of Early Years Hubs will improve access for disadvantaged families. The GLA also offers childcare vouchers and interest-free childcare deposit loans to staff, and is encouraging other employers across the capital to do the same.
7. Leading by example
The Mayor is adamant that the GLA sets an example for other employers to follow. As such, the GLA is leading by example through the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and The Good Work Standard. This major new standard of practice for employers in London will promote fair pay, excellent working conditions, diversity and more. The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard outlines how the GLA will ensure that its workforce, at all levels, represents the diversity of London and all its communities.
8. Improving board diversity
Women make up fewer than a quarter of board members in the UK. Since taking office in 2016 the Mayor has overseen a major effort to increase diversity at board level across the GLA Group, and many of its top-level boards – including the LEAP Board, the TfL Board, the Skills for London Taskforce and the Mayor’s Cultural Leadership Ambassadors – are now at least 50% women.