Does the council not already undertake equal pay reviews?

Promoting equality of opportunity for our workforce and tackling workplace exclusion is important to achieving our vision and values. In support of this the council have been voluntarily undertaking equal pay reviews since 2007. Equal pay reviews, however, were superseded by the requirement placed upon the council to undertake mandatory gender pay gap reporting. The council have however recommenced undertaking equal pay reviews in addition to gender pay gap reporting.

What's the difference between equal pay and gender pay?

Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women. In particular, those who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It's unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman. The gender pay gap shows the differences in the average pay between men and women.

Are there any specific requirements that the council have had to follow?

Yes. We have followed the guidance developed by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS). This helps us to carry out mandatory gender pay gap reporting and calculate and publish the:

• mean and median gender pay gap
• mean and median bonus gender pay
• proportion of male and females receiving a bonus payment
• proportion of male and females in each quartile pay band

Has any information been excluded from the council’s gender pay gap report?

Yes. In accordance with the government guidance the following have not been included in the council’s gender pay gap reporting arrangements:

• Employees on casual contracts.
• Employees of maintained schools.
• Employees of academies.

What statistical measure has been used to calculate the gender pay gap?

There are two statistical measures of ‘average pay’ that have been used to calculate the council’s gender pay gap. These are as identified in the government guidance which are:

• mean average. This involves adding up all of the numbers and dividing the result by how many numbers were in the list.
• median average. This involves listing all of the numbers in numerical order. If there are an odd number of results, the median average is the middle number. If there is an even number of results, the median will be the mean of the two central numbers.

Does the council have a gender pay gap?

Yes, although both the median and mean pay gaps have positively reduced in favour of females.  The pay gaps have altered in the 2023 pay period due to continued changes in the gender makeup of the council. This was also helped by an increase in the hourly rates of lower graded and mostly female employees’ pay. This was due to incremental progression. 

Our overall workforce composition is mostly female. 68.2% are female which is a 1.2% increase in female workers from the previous year (2022-2023). The most significant difference is for pay grade 1-3 roles with 71.8% female workers.  Jobs in these grades are typically cooks, home-to-school escorts, early years practitioners and support workers. These roles are popular with female employees. This may be because of the type of work involved. It may also be because a large number of the roles are part time. This means the roles can be balanced with duties outside of work. We’ve also seen a slight increase in females in pay grades 12-17 and senior management roles. 64% in these grades are female and 71% of our senior leadership team are female. This includes a female Chief Executive and the first ever female Deputy Leader of the council.

What's being done to address the council’s gender pay gap?

The council is committed to tackling low pay. We pay a low pay supplement equivalent to the foundation living wage rate. This is paid wherever the council’s minimum hourly rate of pay is less.

We have an action plan which is aligned with the council’s key workforce strategies. Actions include things like:

• Undertaking further analysis of equality data to address any potential barriers for applicants. Looking at areas where certain genders are poorly represented within services.
• Supporting the development of career pathways within our services through our efficiency programme.
• Continuing to monitor leavers by gender and grade, including reasons for leaving.
• Undertaking a full review of job design and evaluation processes. This is to identify and address any potential barriers or bias in recruitment, performance, evaluation, and reward decisions. 

We then learn and act on any feedback received.

It's worth noting that this is still a long term piece of work. Changing gender stereotypes that have been embedded in the labour market for years will take time. We do acknowledge that while we have a gender pay gap we have work to do. We are fully committed to address this.