Gender Pay Gap report

Gender Pay Gap Report 2023

This is the Council's annual report on the difference in pay between female and male Council employees.

As well as publication on our website it has also been made available to all Council employees and workers

It is also included at GOV.UK - View gender pay gap information with the reports of other public and private sector employers.

Promoting equality

The Council is committed to promoting equality in all of its activities including the provision of its services and employment of its staff.

The GOV.UK - Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 require public authorities with 250 or more employees to publish specific information about differences in pay between male and female employees based on the pay period in which 31 March 2023 falls.

The information which is closely defined to allow comparison with other public authorities and with other organisations must be published by no later than 30 March 2024.

Preston City Council Gender Pay Gap Statistics

The information for Preston City Council is shown below (pay period March 2023):

• Number of staff - 290 Female and 319 male
• Mean hourly rate - 15.5225 female and 14.8950 male - difference -4.21%
• Median hourly rate - 13.9100 female and 12.7500 male - difference -9.10%
• % age - Lower Quartile - 40.37% female and 59.63% male
• % age - Lower Middle Quartile - 48.34% female and 51.66% male
• % age - Upper Middle Quartile - 48.06% female and 51.94% male
• % age - Upper Quartile - 53.62% female and 46.38% male

Comments

The overall number of employees and the split between the number of male and female employees has remained fairly static. However, there is an increase in the gender pay gap from -6.10% to -9.10% on the median hourly rate, and a slight increase from -2.22% to -4.21% on the mean hourly rate compared with the Council's data reported for March 2022. These figures compare favourably with the national picture which reports the gender pay gap for all employees in 2023 as being 14.3% (Office of National Statistics).

The negative gap means that in March 2023, the median hourly earnings for all PCC employees were higher for female employees than for male employees.

During the 12-month period between reports, there was a slight shift in the gender balance across each of the quartiles, with a similar percentage of males and females employed in the Lower Middle and Upper Middle Quartiles but with an increase in the percentage of males compared with females employed in the Lower Quartile and an increase in the percentage of females compared with males employed in the Upper Quartile.

The Council already subscribes to many of the actions listed in the recommendations made by the Government Equalities Office and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development including policies aimed at:-

• Ensuring recruitment processes are free from gender bias.
• Providing opportunities for flexible working where possible.
• Ensuring best use of parental leave and encouraging returners.
• Fair pay structures through job evaluation and fair distribution of development opportunities.

The Council will continue to monitor the differences in pay between its male and female employees and workers and, where necessary, it will look in more detail at specific areas where there is an apparent gender disparity to see whether further action is necessary.