NOTHING will be done to close the gender pay gap in smaller firms for at least one year, a minister has confirmed.

Companies with more than 250 staff members must publish pay gap details or risk legal action from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), potentially leading to court orders and fines.

However, no such requirements are in place for smaller enterprises.

Yesterday Victoria Atkins, Minister for Women, told the House of Commons it will be at least a year before the UK Government considers any changes.

Angela Crawley, SNP equalities spokesperson, asked if the Tory administration would support lowering the threshold to 150, a move which would see many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) included.

Atkins said: “The first year of reporting was last year, this year is the second year of reporting – although I am impatient to get this gap closed, we do have to acknowledge it’s going to take time for businesses and employers to close it.

“I would like the data to settle perhaps for another year or so before we start looking at reducing the number of employees at which companies and businesses have to start reporting, because we do acknowledge it’s an extra bureaucratic responsibility for the businesses. We want to make sure the large employers are doing their best before we move it down.”

The reporting deadline was at midnight, and yesterday afternoon hundreds of companies had yet to file their figures. Amongst those who had reported, the median pay gap was 9.8% – a fractional change on the 9.7% seen last year. However, there were serious variations in the numbers submitted, with budget airline Easyjet revealing a 47.9% disparity between its male and female workers.

Men continue to out-earn women at almost 80% of companies, according to the information available yesterday morning.

Easyjet attributed its gap – which has widened since last year – to the recruitment of more cabin crew, who are predominately female. It says it is attempting to hire more women as pilots, who take home higher sums.

Labour’s Dawn Butler MP branded the reporting process a “tick-box exercise”.