{"id":57528,"date":"2015-06-03T13:22:22","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T13:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=c8d4171021d63a6bcdf24517997c50c0"},"modified":"2015-06-03T13:22:22","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T13:22:22","slug":"speech-supporting-women-in-transport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=57528","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Supporting women in transport"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Good afternoon. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great pleasure to support the FTA everywoman in Transport and Logistics Awards.<\/p>\n

This is my first speech since my appointment as Transport Minister.<\/p>\n

And I want to say from the beginning.<\/p>\n

That you will be hearing some very positive messages about the transport and logistics sector from me.<\/p>\n

Because I understand the vital importance of the sector to the British economy.<\/p>\n

And because you transport virtually everything we buy or sell.<\/p>\n

Our economy is totally dependent on your work.<\/p>\n

Yet I believe this fact is insufficiently recognised.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a tendency to take the sector for granted.<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019ve been in post, people in the freight sector have told me that the industry has 2 main challenges.<\/p>\n

The first is reputation \u2013 people don\u2019t always appreciate how vital you are.<\/p>\n

And the second is recruitment.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why today\u2019s (3 June 2015) awards matter.<\/p>\n

Because over the past 8 years, they have raised the reputation and profile of the whole industry.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s great news that this year\u2019s Awards received record entries.<\/p>\n

Because if we are to further the cause of opportunity and economic growth, we need to support women in all sectors of the UK economy.<\/p>\n

And across the economy as a whole, there has been progress.<\/p>\n

Since 2011 the number of female directorships on FTSE 100 boards has almost doubled.<\/p>\n

Last year, my colleague Nicky Morgan was able to announce that there was not a single all-male board among the FTSE top 100 companies.<\/p>\n

For women under 40 who work full time, the gender pay gap has been virtually eradicated.<\/p>\n

And for my profession, there are now more women in the House of Commons than ever before. <\/p>\n

Almost a third of my colleagues elected on 7 May are women.<\/p>\n

But the truth is that transport does have some catching up to do.<\/p>\n

While the latest figures show that since 2013 the number of women drivers has increased from 39,000 to 44,000. <\/p>\n

The number of women managers and directors has fallen from 9,000 to just 8,000. <\/p>\n

And those numbers are just a tiny proportion of the men working in the industry.<\/p>\n

That shows we still have some way to go.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t get enough women seeking a career in transport, and those who do have said progression can be a challenge.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s bad for women and it\u2019s bad business.<\/p>\n

To put it starkly, wherever women are excluded, 50% of the available talent is excluded.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m pleased that many in the industry are committed to improving career prospects for women. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s shown by all the firms represented here today.<\/p>\n

And by the companies sponsoring awards.<\/p>\n

Such as TNT, Wincanton and Asda.<\/p>\n

Where the government can help, we will.<\/p>\n

We are supporting the work of the Education and Employers Taskforce<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Taskforce runs the Inspiring Women campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a campaign to get high-achieving women to talk with girls in state schools about the job they do and route they took.<\/p>\n

15,000 women have already taken part.<\/p>\n

So I would like to extend an invitation today.<\/p>\n

We have finalists here from great employers from a variety of sectors such as the Royal Navy, John Lewis and National Express. <\/p>\n

You\u2019re drivers, warehouse managers and directors at all levels.<\/p>\n

You prove that women can excel in transport and logistics, and you are role models for aspiring women and transport firms across the country.<\/p>\n

So this is my invitation \u2013 please consider joining the Inspiring Women campaign.<\/p>\n

So you can inspire young women to follow you into transport and logistics.<\/p>\n

And when you get back to work, ask your employer if they have signed up to Think, Act, Report.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a government scheme to recognise, support and encourage companies who help women realise their potential in the workplace.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of companies have already joined.<\/p>\n

They work to identify ways to close the gender-gap<\/p>\n

And they report on company progress<\/p>\n

They can show their commitment by adding the Think, Act, Report logo to their website.<\/p>\n

So I urge you to get involved.<\/p>\n

From my time as Apprenticeship Ambassador to Parliament, I know there\u2019s nothing more powerful for young women to hear than first-hand experience from women in business.<\/p>\n

And I would like to finish tonight by thanking all of you for your efforts supporting today\u2019s awards.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s finalists are the best possible advert for what women can do for the sector.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an honour for me to speak with you, and I thank you for everything you have achieved.<\/p>\n

I wish you the very best for the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speech discussing how the male dominated transport industry needs to attract far more women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57528"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}