By occupation, consistent with qualifications, the gender pay gap is smaller for professional and administrative occupations than for skilled trades, customer service and plant operatives (Chart 9). For almost all occupations, the gender pay gap is higher outside London. In 2018, the gender pay gap outside London remained higher for managers, skilled trades and elementary occupations. For the rest of the occupations, the pay gap in London overtook the respective gap outside London. Broadly speaking, occupations with median hourly pay of more than £ (managers, professional, and associate occupations) have lower gender pay gaps than occupations where the median hourly pay is less than £ (sales and customer services, and elementary occupations). Relatedly, there is a clear inverse relationship between the gender pay gap and female-dominated professions. Occupations with a lower share of females tend to be characterised by higher gender pay gaps and vice versa, consistent with increased female representation shrinking gender pay gaps cross-sectionally, if not always over time. 12  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  12  Chart 9: Median gender pay gap by occupation, sample average Gender pay gap, per cent 35  London  Other  30  25  20  15  10  5  0 Managers  Professional  Associate Administrative Skilled trades professionals  Male male  Personal service  Sales and customer  Process and plants  Elementary  Female female  Source: ONS Labour Force Survey and Bank of England calculations.
Conclusion To summarise, deregulation will bring greater competition to the banking industry, which should enable banks to exercise a great deal more freedom in the nature of business they pursue and in the form of services they offer. Ideally, this freedom should also provide greater choice for the consumer, greater efficiency in the delivery of services, and better value for money. In practice, however, the transitional period in which we now find ourselves will also give rise to misunderstandings, disputes, and dissatisfaction among many consumers that will need to be resolved. To approach these problems and to find practical ways of resolving them, we need to develop a more sophisticated and better organised system of consumer protection. We have now placed the subject on the table for discussion. I hope that the community and its representatives, and the industry, through your organisation, will take up the debate and help shape an effective solution. BIS Review 55/2001  5