On 24 August I emailed a Labour peer, Baroness Prosser, Deputy Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (‘EHRC’), in connection with a statement she’d made about more gender diverse boards delivering superior performance. I asked her for evidence to substantiate her claim. My request was passed to John Sharman, a Policy Manager, to address, and last Friday I received his response. The content is much as we might expect, and I’ve just sent him back a reply addressing each of his points. The following document contains the full text of his letter, with my comments in red.
120909 response to EHRC letter
I’ve made a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act for the evidence of a link between increased female representation on boards and enhanced corporate performance, the link which underpins government policy on this matter, and is used to justify the government’s continuing threats of legislated quotas. Given that the evidence clearly shows a negative causal link, I look forward to their creative response.
