We’re pleased to share our latest Gender, Ethnicity and Disability Pay Gap report which highlights the positive progress we’re continuing to make in closing the gender pay gap and ensuring gender equality across the council. For the first time ever, the report also shares information relating to ethnicity and disability pay gaps, reflecting our wider commitment to addressing equality across the organisation. 

Our annual report sets out workforce and pay data for the previous pay year, with the latest report reflecting the pay period as at 31 March 2024. The report includes workforce gender composition data, average hourly pay for men and women and specific pay gap data for ethnic minority and disabled employees. It allows us to review any pay gaps, identify any underrepresentation, assess progress made in closing the gaps and sets out our next steps to continue our drive for equality and eliminating any pay differences across the council.  

Here are the key highlights from the report:

• Overall workforce composition remains predominantly female, with 67.9% female compared to 32.1% male. This is a slight decrease in female workers from the previous year (2022-2023).   

• The most significant difference remains for pay grade 1-3 roles, with 71.1% female compared to 28.9% male.  

• We’ve seen a slight increase in the proportion of females in pay grade 12-17 and senior management roles, with 64.4% female, compared to 35.6% male.   

• A female employee now earns on average (median) 4.1% more than a male employee, reflecting an increase in the gender pay gap over the last two pay periods.  

• Ethnic Minority employees earn on average (median) 11.4% more than white employees providing positive diversity indicators. However, they only reflect 2.4% of the workforce. 

• A disabled employee earns on average (median) 0.6% less than a non-disabled employee and are under-represented within grades 14 and over. 

We’re committed to our ongoing work to reduce any pay gaps across the protected characteristics of our workforce and we are working hard to improve and embed equality as part of our inclusive culture. Here’s just some of the work we’ve undertaken over the last 12 months: 

• We’ve continued to collect and analyse equality data to help address potential barriers for applicants and service areas experiencing gender underrepresentation. 

• We’ve continued to monitor leavers by gender and age including reasons for leaving and acting on feedback received. 

• We’ve continued to celebrate a diverse range of awareness days and events reflecting equality and inclusion and addressing gender barriers. 

Sarah Norman, Chief Executive of Barnsley Council, said: “We’re building a welcoming workplace where everyone is valued, respected and treated with fairness and dignity and I’m immensely proud of how far we’ve come.    

“This year’s report highlights positive progress and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to addressing equality and any imbalance by voluntarily including pay data on other protected characteristics which we will continue to report on in future years.  

“We’ve taken encouraging strides over the last 12 months to build an inclusive and diverse workplace. We’ve developed our Menopause Friendly support offer and our range of employee networks including Age Friendly, Disability and Neurodiversity and Young Employee networks. We’ve been closely reviewing our workforce demographics and supported the development of career pathways within our services. 

“There’s still work to do and we will continue to review the way we capture, store and report equality data to improve data quality and reduce gaps. We also plan to review our recruitment processes to remove potential barriers for applicants and address any areas underrepresented.  

“This work is just one part of our broader ambition to ensure everyone within our borough has the same opportunities to access fulfilling work, learn new skills and progress in the workplace. We’re thinking ahead and investing in building skills and learning opportunities through pioneering initiatives such as our Pathways to Work programme, which will prepare young people not in employment for work and help us understand the challenges they face.  

“We support adult learners who missed out on the benefits of lifelong learning through our Outstanding rated Adult Skills and Community Learning service. We’ve also joined forces with Barnsley College to create Our Future Careers Academy, offering the next generation insights into the rewarding work at the council.  

“Together, we can make sure that everyone benefits from Barnsley’s growing prosperity, with equal opportunities to learn, access rewarding jobs and contribute towards our vision for Barnsley, the place of possibilities.” 

Cabinet members will be presented with the report for approval at their next cabinet meeting on Wednesday 19 March. 

You can read the full cabinet report and Gender, Ethnicity and Disability Pay Gap report here.