Gender Pay Gap Data

Gender Pay Gap as at 31 March 2024

** For the purpose of reporting, market supplement payments are included as “bonus payments”

Narrative

In summary, the mean gender pay gap remains well within the parameters that might be expected for similar public sector organisations.

The quartile distribution is well-balanced in the upper three quartiles with very small variations which suggests that in these areas there is a healthy proportionality in terms of gender within pay bands.

The lower quartile, however, does contain a disproportionate number of female employees. This is unusual when considering the earlier reports since 2017 when the distribution of gender in this quartile was much more balanced. Over recent years several changes have taken place that has affected (improved) pay at the lower end of the pay scale including the increasing of the minimum pay point for all posts, and secondly, pay has been improved for skilled driving jobs to reflect the change in working practices. Although all post grades are determined through a job evaluation process, these changes have resulted in most jobs in the lower quartile now being those within leisure centres. Proportionately, the number of jobs in these areas of work are part-time jobs and still, societally, it is also the case that as a proportion, more women than men tend to undertake part-time work.

Since last year the overall median pay gap has reduced again and now reflects only a negligible gender pay gap.

The fact that the overall mean gender pay gap remains low suggests that when taken as a whole, the average (mean) pay for female employees is similar to that of pay for male employees. The proportion of women in better-paid jobs does then seem to be healthy.

Although the data contained within the analysis is not a matter of concern, the organisation will continue to be aware of the need to aspire to a gender-neutral state in terms of both mean and median pay differential.

In previous years the Council has applied market premium supplements to some posts and it is these that have been classed as bonus payments. This year there have been no market supplements paid.

The organisation considers itself to be caring and recognises the complex needs of its employees through the practical application of supportive working practices.  Practical measures to support such statements include the adoption of flexible working arrangements implemented through its employment policies.  Other policies have also been introduced to support women in the workplace such as the “Menopause in the Workplace Policy”. The Equality Policy (Employment) was also reviewed in early 2021 and the Fostering-friendly Policy was introduced towards the end of 2022. Last year the Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion corporate training programme was launched together with a new Workforce Strategy.

Although the organisation does not yet have a neutral mean gender pay gap, the gap continues to remain low relative to many other businesses. This positive position reflects the organisation that we aspire to be; a fair place to work and one in which supportive employment policies go hand-in-hand with an established and transparent job evaluation scheme. A risk to the ability to further improve the mean gender pay gap is that the organisation is relatively small and the change in occupation of a few of the Council’s most senior posts could have a material effect on the outturn. A watching brief will be maintained each year and should the outturn worsen to a point of concern then an appropriate action plan will be identified.