Autumn Budget 2026: Commitments to women in tech

Several initiatives to help women thrive in the UK’s tech sector were announced in chancellor John Healey’s Autumn Budget, including voluntary employer standards for improved culture, more inclusive standards for investment, and help for female founders.

This focus on addressing the barriers women face in the tech sector aims to increase access to talent for what the UK government has called “one of the world’s leading tech sectors”, with the chancellor’s Budget report outlining that increasing the number of women in the sector could “add up to £4bn a year to UK GDP”.

Digital inclusion minister and Women in Tech Taskforce co-chair Vicky Foxcroft said: “Too many talented women are leaving tech or never getting the chance to build a career in it in the first place. That’s not just unfair – it’s a waste of talent our economy can’t afford. These initiatives are about working with industry to create opportunities for all, so that tech becomes a place where women can thrive, from the classroom right through to the boardroom.”

Women currently make up around 22% of people working in tech roles in the UK, and only 2p of every £1 invested in venture capital funding in the UK goes to businesses founded by women, according to the Investing in women code annual report from the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST).

When it comes to attracting and retaining female talent in the sector, the 2025 Lovelace report found poor company culture and lack of career progression to be the predominant reason thousands of women are leaving their tech roles every year.

Too many talented women are leaving tech or never getting the chance to build a career in it in the first place. That’s not just unfair – it’s a waste of talent our economy can’t afford

Outlined in the budget, the government will work alongside industry ambassadors and the Women in Tech Taskforce to create a Tech Forward Standard that firms can use voluntarily to tackle some of the barriers women face in the industry, potentially including improved guidelines on workplace culture, harassment reporting routes, and hiring, retention and career progression.

As pointed out by Anne-Marie Imafidon, chief executive and co-founder of Stemettes and Women in Tech Envoy, a recent call for evidence found 74% of people believe a better workplace culture in tech would have a positive impact on progression and leadership outcomes for women in the sector.

“We now have a clear mandate to work with industry and make tech somewhere women stay, thrive and lead,” said Imafidon. “Too many women have told us about facing misconduct like harassment and discrimination in tech. That is unacceptable and a key driver of poor participation in the sector.

“This launch is about working with industry to ensure we have a future that works for everyone, by creating the cultural change women and their allies have long been calling for.”

Alongside this, a voluntary standard for investment practices – the Inclusive Investment Standard – will also be created to improve access to funding for female entrepreneurs.

The 2019 Alison Rose review from HM Treasury, which assessed female entrepreneurship, found that if women were able to start and grow businesses at the same rate as their male counterparts, it could contribute £310bn to the UK economy.

The Inclusive Investment Standard will begin by monitoring female-led businesses from conception to pitch to funding, to see where women meet the biggest barriers and outline how these can be addressed, as well as “commitments around broadening deal sourcing channels”.

Early industry ambassadors helping the government and Women in Tech Taskforce develop these standards include BT, Revolut, Sage, Balderton Capital and Octopus Ventures.

Karen Blake, head of EDIS and this year’s Computer Weekly most influential woman in UK tech, said: “It’s really encouraging to see movement at a system level. It’s not women who need to change, it’s the systems around them. This is how we build a resilient sector where people have the safety to speak up and innovate.”

A support network for female founders was also mentioned in the Budget, in the form of a “scale-up women’s programme” run by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and BIST. The network aims to break down some of the barriers facing female founders through actions such as investor networks, appropriate support, peer learning and mentoring.

Vanessa Vallely, CEO of WeAreTechWomen, summarised the efforts outlined, saying: “We know from our own research through the Lovelace Report that we are losing far too many talented women from the technology industry. Attracting more women into tech is important, but keeping them there, ensuring they have opportunities to progress and addressing the cultures that drive them out is equally critical.

“The Women in Tech Taskforce has done some fantastic work in bringing these issues to the forefront of the government’s agenda, and it’s great to see industry leaders stepping forward to help drive change. The real test now will be how these commitments translate into meaningful action. We don’t have a shortage of talented women in technology; we need to ensure we have an industry that recognises, supports and retains them.”