2 INTRODUCTION barnsley.gov.uk BarnsleyCouncil @BarnsleyCouncil At Barnsley Council we value diversity and are committed to equality within our workforce. Our ambition for Barnsley Council is to be a place where everyone is valued, respected, treated fairly and with dignity. As an equal opportunities employer, we believe that if we have a workforce that reflects the diversity of the local population, is treated equally and fairly, and has the opportunity to grow and develop at work it will help us to provide the best possible service to the people of Barnsley. The approach we take to equality and diversity is informed by our Vision and Values and seeks to address the challenges we face, and to learn from the progress and achievements we have made so far. We recognise that like many other employers we have a gender pay gap. We are confident that men and women are paid equally for doing the same job; however, like other public sector organisations we employ a greater proportion of women than men in our workforce and in lower graded roles. To start to address this issue we have introduced the Foundation Living Wage to increase salaries of the lowest paid and we have a robust action plan in place which identifies what we are going to do to tackle the gender pay gap. We acknowledge that while ever we have a gender pay gap we have work to do and as a council we are fully committed to address this imbalance. Chief Executive