The 1990 report of the Hansard Society Commission on Women at the Top identified continuing barriers to women achieving senior positions across a range of fields in the public and private sectors, and made far-reaching recommendations for further action.
The Hansard Society Commission on Women at the Top was established in 1988, with Lady Howe in the Chair and a mandate to "identify barriers to the appointment of women to senior occupational positions, and to other positions of power and influence, and to make recommendations as to how these barriers could be overcome." The Commission focused on the circumstances of women in senior positions since it was thought that change at the top, provided it extended beyond tokenism, would help all women.
The other members of the Commission included leading female and male representatives from business and industry, financial services, the civil service, politics, universities and journalism.
The Commission examined women's representation across Parliament, public office, the civil service, the legal profession including the judiciary, management, higher education, the media and trade unions.
The Commission's work included:
A review of published information about women in public life and employment;
Interviews with senior personnel in government, business and the professions;
Interviews with experts in organisations committed to increasing equality of opportunity, including the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Women into Public Life Campaign and the 300 Group;
Contact with companies known for good practice in the employment of women;
A survey of employers on their policies and practices towards the promotion of women to senior positions; and
A survey of companies on the composition of their main holding and subsidiary boards.
The Commission found that there were still formidable barriers stopping women getting to the top: of structures, of working practices, of tradition, and, above all, of attitude.
However, in its final report, published in 1990, the Commission also identified "strong evidence of what organisations can do to break down all of these barriers" and said that it would "take only a small amount of determination to make sure this country ceases to under-use nearly half of its talent."
The Commission made recommendations for further action by political parties and Parliament, the civil service, the judiciary and the legal profession, businesses, universities, trade unions and the media. Among other recommendations, the Commission said that a Speaker's Conference should be established in the House of Commons "to consider the ways in which parliamentary and party practices and procedures place women at a real disadvantage".
Foreword The Rt Hon Lord Barnett, Chairman, Hansard Society
Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations
Part One - Introduction
Part Two - Barriers to Equality
Part Three - The Public Realm
Part Four - Corporate Management
Part Five - Other Key Areas of Influence
Part Six - Strategies for Change
Appendices
The Constitutional and Legal Framework
A Survey of Employers
Women on the Board
Examples of Organisations in the Private Sector who have taken Equal Opportunities Initiatives
Organisations that Offer Help, Advice or Training in Equal Opportunities Initiatives
The Rwanda Bill has made it over the parliamentary finishing line but not without some last-minute drama. We talk to the SNP’s Alison Thewliss MP about what went on in a small room, behind the Speaker’s Chair, away from the cameras!
To mark the Hansard Society’s 80th anniversary we are launching the Churchill-Attlee Democracy Lecture in honour of our first members, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee. The inaugural lecture will be given by former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Theresa May MP. This is a fundraising event for our 80th Anniversary Appeal. Date & location: Tuesday 14 May 2024, 7:00-8:15pm, Westminster (venue to be announced) Tickets: £25
With a general election on the horizon there has been a spate of new legislation and regulations to implement changes to the way the election will be run, with consequences for voters and electoral administrators. Parliament has not always had a role in approving these changes. This briefing sets out the core changes to the electoral process that have been implemented since the last general election in 2019, the role that Parliament has played in scrutinising and approving them, and the risks arising from these changes.
The Climate Change Act 2008 established a framework for setting carbon budgets every five years. But the role of Parliament in approving these budgets has been widely criticised, including by the Prime Minister. The Environmental Audit Committee has proposed improvements in the scrutiny process to ensure effective climate action, particularly in the context of the UK’s commitment to achieving 'Net Zero' emissions by 2050. These reforms will significantly alter the way Parliament handles the Seventh Carbon Budget in 2025.
The Government’s flagship Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2009. The genesis of the delegated powers in the Bill – dating back a decade - tells an important story about the way in which incomplete policy-making processes are used by Ministers to seek ‘holding’ powers in a Bill, only for that precedent to then be used to justify further, broader powers in subsequent Bills. This ‘creeping’ effect in the legislative process undermines parliamentary scrutiny of ministerial action.
