Wandsworth and Richmond Councils Report That Gender Pay Gap Is Closing

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But admit that there’s still more they can do to reduce the figure further

A report released ahead of a Standards Committe meeting at Wandsworth council shows that in 2017/18 men were paid 5.97 per cent more than women on average per hour worked at both Wandsworth and Richmond councils.

This figure, based on the mean averages, shows a greater disparity than the difference between the median averages – 2.76 per cent, although the figures are down from 6.8 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively on the previous year.

The report states that the councils, which share staff, are “pleased” that the gap is reducing, and is well below the national average as well as the local government average.

One area where men are still paid a large amount more is in bonuses, which are given out for recruitment and retention, or based on performance.

Slightly more men than women (72.18 per cent compared to 68.87 per cent) were paid a bonus in the first place, and those bonuses were 26.51 per cent bigger on average (10.34 per cent median).

The report continues: “However, there’s still more we can do to reduce the gap further and to ensure that all colleagues in the [shared staffing arrangement] are supported to develop, progress and achieve their full potential.”

The councils are reviewing their terms and conditions, and have introduced leadership and mentoring programmes to support people from under-represented groups to get to senior positions.

They also plan to make flexible working – an arrangement more popular among women – easier, and are working on reducing ‘unconscious bias’ during recruitment, for example by blanking out names.

 

Written with contributions from Callum Rutter, Local Democracy Reporter

March 4, 2019