On Thursday 30th September a predominant number of male MSPs walked out of the Scottish Parliament just after 5.00 pm. The Deputy Presiding Officer had to ask members who were leaving the chamber to do so with no further conversation. They missed out on 45 minutes of lively debate and information regarding equal pay. The MSPs who remained included Murray Tosh (Deputy Presiding Officer), Jeremy Purves, and Donald Gorrie plus a large contingent of female MSPs. 

The Deputy Presiding Officer, Murray Tosh said: The final item of business today is a members' business debate on 'Equal Pay', in the name of Sandra White. The debate will be concluded without any vote on the outcome. 

Apparently PayFinder.com found that the gender pay gap has increased by 5% in the last year and is getting wider. They believe the Scottish Executive has a duty to investigate the matter and bring forward proposals to close the gap.

PayFinder.com contacted Sandra White, SNP, MSP about the gender pay gap. It produced a paper that told her that the gender pay gap now stands at 29 per cent. That compares with the UK average of 24 per cent, which is still bad. Given everything that has happened, it is ridiculous that the pay gap is wider than it was when the Equal Pay Act 1970 was passed. 

Sandra asked the Scottish Executive to instigate an audit of all the employees in the Government, regardless of which job they carry out, to find out whether fairness and equality are prominent. 

The Deputy Minister for Communities (Mrs Mary Mulligan) said "Tackling equal pay must be a priority. It is not only right that women's work should be properly valued and that women should expect a fair deal in the workplace; it is vital for our economy. Scotland needs to be able to draw on the skills and talents of all its people; it cannot make the best of what it has when there are barriers to participation. That means recognizing the needs of women in all their diversity. 

From the outset, the Executive and others in the Parliament have taken the issue of women's equality seriously. We have taken action that has helped women, but we all know that there is much more to be done. I take on board the point that Sandra White and others made about doing an audit. We heard also the members who said that it is difficult to provide the statistics that would allow us to compare like with like. However, that should not necessarily deter us from doing an audit. I will consider how we can take that forward".