Speedier equal pay rulings needed

Women were paid 43% less than men in the finance sector

The government is planning to speed up the time it takes to resolve equal pay tribunals, the BBC has learnt.

Women's minister Jacqui Smith will address an equal pay summit of leading City firms and finance unions in London on Monday.

She will announce a consultation process with important legislation changes taking place later this year.

Most equal pay tribunals should take no longer than a few months or about a year to complete, she says.

In one unusual equal pay case, a group of women speech therapists who started proceedings in 1987 took 13 years to win their case.

Ms Smith said that was an unacceptable delay.

The minister will also take a critical look at the financial and banking sector where there is a 43% pay gap between men and women.

She told the BBC that women were still not general reaching the higher echelons of management and the glass ceiling had to be removed.