Gender pay gap

As a public-sector employer of more than 250 employees, we are required to report on our gender pay gap annually in line with The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017.

Staffordshire County Council is committed to ensuring a positive working environment for everyone and encouraging an inclusive workforce who enjoy their jobs. 

At the county council there is no difference between the pay of men and women employed in the same or equivalent roles as we have a job evaluation mechanism which ensures equal pay. However, there is a difference between the average hourly pay of men and women when looking at our entire workforce. Since its introduction, we have undertaken significant analysis to understand our gender pay gap. We recognise there are a number of reasons for our pay gap and it may take some years to see a significant change but we are committed to taking ongoing steps to reduce it.

As an organisation we believe that the solution to improving our pay gap is wider than just focussing on the differences between the average pay of men and women. Therefore we are taking a number of actions to improve Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) across the Council. This includes developing our ED&I strategy and making improvements in areas we know are effective in reducing the pay gap, such as reviewing recruitment processes, our people policies, ensuring transparency in pay processes and providing leadership development, all which support the objectives of our People Strategy.

Published Data – Gender Pay Report / Workforce Equality Data

The Council is required to publish both a gender pay report and workforce equality data each year. The combined report details our data and the steps we are taking to develop a more diverse and inclusive workforce and in turn, improve our gender pay gap.

Gender Pay Gap

Reporting ‘snapshot’ date – 31 March 2023

Staffs CC Equality & Gender Pay Gap Report 2024 PDF (1.08 MB)

Staffordshire County Council, as a public sector employer of more than 250 employees, is required to report on its gender pay gap in line with ‘The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017’ for workers in scope.

The gender pay gap differs from equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women undertaking the same or similar jobs considered equal value. It is unlawful to pay people differently who perform the same (or similar)duties because they are male or female. The gender pay gap is a measure of the difference between men and women'saverage earnings; it allows organisations to be transparent about gender pay differences and to take positive action to address them.

As stipulated in the legislation we are required to publish the following gender pay data:

• Gender pay gap (mean and median values)
• Gender bonus gap (mean and median values)
• Proportion of men and women receiving bonuses
• Proportion of men and women in each quartile of the organisation’s pay structure.

The deadline for this year's Gender Pay Gap Report publication is 30th March 2024, and salary data will be based on the snapshot date of 31st March 2023. Bonus data will include all bonus payments made in the 12 months up to and including the snapshot date of 31st March 2023. Full pay employees and casual workers in post at the snapshot date are included in the figures.

Gender pay gap – average hourly rates

Our mean gender pay gap has continued to reduce and now stands at 5.4%, while the median gender pay gap has fallen significantly to 3.2%. Both measures remain significantly lower than national and public sector benchmarks.*

Mean hourly pay gap

5.4% pay gap

Median hourly pay gap

3.2% pay gap

We do not have a bonus pay gap at the county council as no employee receives a bonus.

* Figures from ONS (ASHE 2023): Overall 13.2% mean/14.3% median; Public sector 11.5% mean/14.0% median; Private sector 15.6% mean/18.9% median.

Gender pay gap – workforce quartiles

76.4% of our workforce are female, but their distribution throughout the pay quartiles does vary. The proportion of female staff in the lower mid-quartile continues to fall but remains higher than average, whereas the proportion in the upper quartile is lower than average but continues to rise and is one of the key drivers in reducing our pay gap.

Lower quartile

24.3% Males, 75.7% Females in 2023 compared to 26.4% Males, 73.6% Females in 2022

Lower mid-quartile

20.9% Males, 79.1% Females in 2023 compared to 19.3% Males, 80.7% Females in 2022

Upper mid-quartile

23.1% Males, 76.9% Females in 2023 compared to 22.1% Males, 77.9% Females in 2022

Upper quartile

26.1% Males, 73.9% Females in 2023 compared to 26.7% Males, 73.3% Females in 2022  

Understanding our Pay Gap

Since the first gender pay gap publication in March 2018 we have undertaken significant analysis to understand the reasons for our pay gap and have identified the following:

• Our pay gap fluctuates during the year and is susceptible to change.
• The make-up of our workforce impacts on reducing our pay gap.
• There is a greater proportion of women than men in part time lower paid jobs.
• We have very few part time employees within managerial roles and within the upper pay quartile.
• There are gender imbalances across the organisation by job category.
• Historical societal factors which we can not control and which may take some years to see change.
  
  

Our equality, diversity and gender pay gap commitments

Senior managers and political leaders within the Council are committed to taking steps to achieve greater equality, diversity & inclusion and in turn, reduce our gender pay gap. Actions include:

• Developing our People Strategy to support a more diverse workforce and to create a positive working environment which embodies our values and ensures we provide an inclusive and accessible working environment.

• Improving our workforce data collection and creating a diversity workforce profile to; identify trends, drive improvements and monitor our progress.

• Continuing to develop our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy and action plan.

• Facilitating the set-up of employee forums to enable colleagues from different backgrounds to share their experiences of working at SCC and to help us make positive improvements to our working environment.

• Continuing to develop our Smart Working and Digital agenda, to increase the opportunities for employees to work flexibly where possible, increase the choice of working environment and help balance busy work and home lives.

• Making pay and reward processes more transparent using our job evaluation framework.

• Reviewing all of our People Policies with the principle that they will be inclusive, supportive and consider employee wellbeing.

• Reviewing our recruitment practices and technology to ensure they are truly inclusive which will ensure we attract and retain diverse talent and become an employer of choice.

• Participating in ongoing local initiatives such as Women in Leadership, Menopause at Work and the New Parent Mentoring Scheme.

• Ensuring that managers have the skills to lead, inspire and develop their teams ensuring everyone has the opportunity to grow through our management and leadership development programme.

• Developing our apprenticeship strategy and considering how we can increase under-represented groups within particular jobs.