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The gender pay gap in local government 2023/24
This paper summarises the 2023/24 data submitted by English local authorities as at 19 April 2024.
Headline findings
- On average, women in English local authorities were paid 3.5 per cent less than men according to mean pay and 1.7 per cent less than men according to median pay. This compares to 6.1 per cent and 4.0 per cent respectively in 2018/19.
- Women were, on average, paid less than men in 167 authorities, in 25 the pay gap was zero, and in 101 women were paid more than men (according to median pay).
- The proportion of women was highest in the second-lowest pay quartile (63.4 per cent) and lowest in the highest quartile (57.2 per cent), a similar picture to 2018/19.
It is worth noting that these are summary figures for our sector which averages out submissions from a wide range of different types of council employers, which will differ at local levels according to what services are delivered and what operating models are used.
In addition, the mean and median rates relate to the entire workforce within an organisation and do not compare groups with similar jobs in the same pay bands. As a sector, we employ over 800 different roles so some key information relating to the experiences of men and women working in local government is not recognised by simply referring to the mean and median rates. For example, the Government Equality Office (GEO) figures give equal weighting to councils with small workforces where the pay of senior staff has more of an effect on the figures.
However, it is encouraging that the headline figures for our sector continue to show the gap between the earnings of men and women in our sector reducing. This reflects work across the sector to develop innovative recruitment practices, improve career development opportunities and support women’s participation and progress in our workplaces, for example by becoming Menopause Friendly Employers or promoting more flexible working opportunities to all employees.
Introduction
In 2017/18 the Government introduced a mandatory requirement for all organisations with 250 or more employees to submit certain data on their gender pay gap with a commitment to make the data available publicly.
This paper summarises the 2023/24 data submitted by English local authorities as at 19 April 2024. The data items which organisations were required to publish and are covered by this summary are:
- the difference between the mean hourly rate of pay of male full-pay relevant employees and that of female full-pay relevant employees;
- the difference between the median hourly rate of pay of male full-pay relevant employees and that of female full-pay relevant employees;
- the proportions of male and female full-pay relevant employees in the lower, lower middle, upper middle and upper quartile pay bands.
The data has been analysed as submitted to the Government’s gender pay gap service[1] and hence has not been verified or quality-checked. Variations in the pay gap between authorities are likely to be due, at least in part, to differences in structures, types of services provided and the extent of outsourcing[2]. In the analyses below, councils have not been weighted by workforce size.
A pay gap higher than zero per cent indicates that men were, on average, paid more than women (a ‘positive’ gender pay gap) while a pay gap lower than zero per cent (a ‘negative’ gender pay gap) indicates that women were paid more than men.
A total of 293[3] local authority submissions were found (including eight councils with fewer than 250 employees which submitted data voluntarily).
A note on use of the mean and median
The UK Statistics Authority notes that “the median is generally considered to be the better indicator of ‘average’ earnings because the mean can be skewed by fewer individuals earning more in the upper ranges. The median therefore gives a better indication of typical pay than the mean.”
However, fewer women than men in higher-paying roles will be reflected to a greater extent in the mean than the median. Hence, the gender pay gap as measured by mean earnings is often higher than for median earnings (as seen below).
This report shows mean and median gender pay gaps, but the mean is used to summarise the average across authorities.
Mean gender pay gap
This is the difference between men’s mean pay and women’s mean pay expressed as a percentage of men’s mean pay.
- On average, women were paid 3.5 per cent less than men. This compares with 6.1 per cent in 2018/19.
- Women were, on average, paid less than men in 215 authorities; in two the pay gap was zero, and in 76 women were paid more than men.
- The largest positive gender pay gap in an authority was 22.1 per cent (men were paid more than women)
- The largest negative gender pay gap was -18.4 per cent (women were paid more than men).
Median gender pay gap
This is the difference between men’s median pay and women’s median pay expressed as a percentage of men’s median pay.
- On average, women were paid 1.7 per cent less than men. This compares with 4.0 per cent in 2018/19.
- Women were, on average, paid less than men in 167 authorities, in 25 the pay gap was zero, and in 101 women were paid more than men.
- The largest positive gender pay gap in an authority was 24.4 per cent (men were paid more than women)
- The largest negative gender pay gap was -37.3 per cent (women were paid more than men).
| Number of councils | |
|---|---|
| More than 10% | 55 |
| >5% and <=10% | 51 |
| >=0% and <=5% | 86 |
| <0% and >=-5% | 45 |
| Less than -5% | 56 |
By type of authority, the pay gap was highest in counties (8.3 per cent) and metropolitan districts (4.9 per cent) but was negative in London boroughs (-0.2 per cent) and shire districts (-0.7 per cent). See figure 2.
| Type of authority | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Counties | 8.3% |
| Metropolitan districts | 4.9% |
| Unitary authorities | 2.6% |
| London boroughs | -0.2% |
| Shire districts | -0.7% |
There was less variation by region, the pay gap being highest in the West Midlands (3.7 per cent), and negative in Greater London (-0.2 per cent) and the South West (-0.3 per cent). See figure 3
| Region | Percentage |
|---|---|
| West Midlands | 3.7% |
| South East | 3.1% |
| North East | 3.1% |
| Yorks & the Humber | 3.0% |
| East Midlands | 1.3% |
| East of England | 1.1% |
| North West | 0.5% |
| Greater London | -0.2% |
| South West | -0.3% |
Proportion of men/women in each quartile pay band
The male/female composition of each pay quartile is summarised in figure 4. Quartiles are the values which divide a distribution of earnings, once it has been arranged in order, into four equal parts.
- There was little marked variation between quartile bands, the proportion of women being highest in the second quartile (63.4 per cent) and lowest in the highest quartile (57.2 per cent), a similar picture to 2018/19. Over this period, the proportion of women in the lowest quartile fell from 61.1 per cent to 58.7 per cent while the proportion in the highest quartile increased from 55.3 per cent to 57.2 per cent.
| Quartile | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Highest quartile 2023/24 | 42.8% | 57.2% |
| Highest quartile 2018/19 | 44.7% | 55.3% |
| 3rd quartile 2023/24 | 37.9% | 62.1% |
| 3rd quartile 2018/19 | 38.0% | 62.0% |
| 2nd quartile 2023/24 | 36.6% | 63.4% |
| 2nd quartile 2018/19 | 37.1% | 62.9% |
| Lowest quartile 2023/24 | 41.3% | 58.7% |
| Lowest quartile 2018/19 | 38.9% | 61.1% |
Comparisons with other sectors
These should be treated with a degree of caution as workforces can vary widely in their composition, and it is difficult to accurately identify employment sectors from the data.
- The mean gender pay gap across all organisations was 12.5 per cent, compared with 3.5 per cent in local authorities[1].
- The median gender pay gap across all organisations was 11.6 per cent, compared with 1.7 per cent in local authorities.
- Across all organisations, women comprised 41.4 per cent of the top pay quartile band and 54.9 per cent of the lowest pay quartile, compared with 57.2 per cent and 58.7 per cent respectively in local authorities.
- In the Civil Service, the overall median pay gap stood at 8.1 per cent in 2021, varying between 2.8 per cent in HMRC and 11.5 per cent in the Department of Health and Social Care[2]. This compares with 1.7 per cent in local government.
- The NHS median gender pay gap was 14.0 per cent in 2021/22[3], compared with 1.7 per cent in local government.
[1] The comparisons with all organisations includes those in England, Scotland and Wales.
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-diversity-inclusion-dashboard/civil-service-diversity-and-inclusion-dashboard#gender-pay-gap (accessed 19 April 2024).
[3] NHS England » Gender pay gap report 2022: A combined report for NHS England and NHS Improvement (accessed 19 April 2024).