Monika Queisser, head of social policy at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, tells the committee that the gender pay gap is smaller in countries that provide better public childcare and parental leave arrangements.

Ann Francke, Chartered Management Institute chief executive, says attitudes towards flexible work are changing, and cites research by Ernst and Young which suggests that more flexible working would add £11.5bn to the UK economy.

She also says the City of London is one of the worst places in the UK for "presenteeism", and has the fewest number of females and one of the biggest gender pay gaps, in part because it's bonus driven.

Neil Carberry, Confederation of British Industry director, says the real challenge is getting managers to manage on outcomes and not on face time, adding:

Image source, HS2

The company building the HS2 high-speed rail line has appointed three firms to provide structural design and environmental advice on phase two of the project, which will see the line extended from Birmingham to Crewe by 2027. The firms, who will also advise the government on the passage of the necessary legislation through Parliament to authorise the second phase of the multi-billion pound project, are Ove Arup & Partners International, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff and Mouchel Limited. 

Ann Francke, Chartered Management Institute chief executive, says the workplace structure is like a glass pyramid with women making up about 40-50% at the bottom, about 20% in the middle and reducing to single digits at the top. That pattern hasn't changed in 10 years, she said.

She says the pay gap for senior women in 2005 was lower than today, and that the problem is broader than the "motherhood penalty" as non-mothers are also affected.

It comes down to the culture, she says, adding that companies which embrace more progressive policies "absolutely benefit economically" including through higher productivity.

Twitter has been having a bit of fun with the image of David Cameron watching the moment of Tim Peake's blast off. Here is a selection of the alternative realities being imagined. 

The Women and Equalities Committee moves on to the next panel of witnesses.

Ann Francke, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, cites a McKinsey study which suggests that gender equality would boost the UK economy £35bn by 2030. She says it's important on a macroeconomic and microeconomic level.

Neil Carberry, a CBI director, follows and says closing the gender pay gap is the "right thing to do" and has "commercial upsides". The fact there is a gender pay gap is "a sign of inefficency" he says. He also says studies have shown that diverse groups make better decisions. 

Monika Queisser, head of social policy at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development says a lot of countries have been making progress in closing the gender pay gap, citing more support for working parents and "more fluent" part-time and full-time work.

FT economics editor Chris Giles, meanwhile, says the main cause of the gender pay gap is the "motherhood penalty" - a point also made by Sheila Wild.

He says it needs to be easier for women to come back to a full-time role in a more flexible way and he also suggests a policy to make sure people are made fully aware of the consequences of their career decision so they don't end up making "false choices".

Ms Wild, Equal Pay Portal founder, suggests there could be a special initiative to help over 45s develop a career path, especially given the increasing retirement age. She also calls for equal pay audits as a means of introducing more transparency of outcome and decision making.

The chancellor has said he wants to see local people have greater control over health services. George Osborne was speaking as he signed a devolution deal for London to transfer power over NHS services from Whitehall to local groups, which he described as "part of a big devolution revolution happening across the UK". Mr Osborne said:

As the committee's questioning of the first panel begins to draw to a close, the witnesses are asked for their recommendations on how to eliminate the gender pay gap.

Dr Alison Parken, of Cardiff University, says case studies in Wales show employers will engage with analysis of gender employment and pay disparities and make improvements. She makes a plea to work with employers in a "no blame way".

Professor Jill Rubery, from Manchester University, says rises in the minimum wage and living wage make a difference, and also promotes the notion of transparency of pay. She calls for opportunities for men and women in their 30s to work more flexibly, saying: "We need the right to return to full time working not just the right to request to work part-time."

Labour has been fined £1,848 by the Electoral Commission, external for late payment of invoices for campaign expenditure relating to the 2014 European Parliament elections. Parties are required to pay all invoices within 60 days of the date of elections but the watchdog said 13 Labour invoices, for spending totalling £48,000, were late. It said there was no evidence that the non-compliance was deliberate or that the party had gained financially but it said the lapse was "unacceptable". Labour has said it will appeal to the County Court against the fine.

Meanwhile, the Cannabis Is Safer Than Alcohol parties of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been fined a total of £7,000 for failing to deliver any of the required financial returns since they registered with the watchdog. The watchdog said they had shown an "unacceptable level of transparency". 

The questioning turns to pay audits. What do the panel think of them? Sheila Wild thinks they're beneficial but regrets that they acquired "a bad reputation". She says they shouldn't be used as a sanction against employers as it sends out the "wrong message".

Manchester University professor Jill Rubery has "mixed feelings" about pay audits but says the main benefit is the "increase in transparency" they provide.

Image source, PA

The number of people on the brink of homelessness who have been helped by local councils has risen sharply over five years, says the charity Shelter.

Councils in England stepped in to help 205,100 households facing homelessness in the year to March, suggests Shelter's analysis of government data.

In 2009-10, the figure was 140,900, indicating a rise of almost 46%, according to the charity.

The government said it had spent more than £1bn on homelessness since 2010.

But Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb called the research "truly devastating".

Read more here

Baroness Wolf - who has to leave the committee hearing now - is asked what she would recommend to improve the gender pay gap. She says the tax and benefit structure needs to be looked at for workers over 40. She also says there's been a move in the higher education sector to divert funding and support away from part-time and older students to young, full-time student which, she says, penalises women most.

Does overt discrimination against women still persist? Baroness Alison Wolf, economist at King's College London, thinks it's not as major an issue as it used to be, which she says is backed up by detailed analysis. "It's not the big problem right now, there are other major structural problems which seem to be much more important," she tells the committee.

But Sheila Wild, founder of Equal Pay Portal, argues that men are "favoured" in the workplace. She says there's an "expectation" that men will negotiate and ask for more, and during that time the women "don't know the goalposts have moved".

Addressing the question, Dr Alison Parken from Women Adding Value to the Economy, at Cardiff University, says "we don't know", and argues that this is why transparency is needed.  

Baroness Wolf adds that she's in favour of everyone's pay being publishing, saying it can be difficult to assess gender comparisons which she describes as "gesture politics".