Issue - meetings

The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 stipulate that all businesses, public sector and third sector organisations with over 250 employees must publicly report on average pay differences between their male and female employees.

Gender pay gap calculations are based on employer payroll data drawn from a specific date each year. This specific date is called the ‘snapshot date’.

As a public sector body, Oxfordshire County Council are required to publish this pay gap information within 12 months, taking the “snapshot date” of 31 March 2023.

The Remuneration Committee is RECOMMENDED to

a)    Receive the report

b)    Recommend the Gender Pay Gap report for 2023 for approval by Full Council

c)    Receive the Ethnicity Pay Gap Report 2022/2023 (Annex 2) for information purposes.

The Committee considered a report that the Council is required to produce on the gender pay gap. Calculations were based on employer payroll data drawn from a specific date each year.

Paul Tallant, HR Manager – Reward, summarised the report and the next steps.

Members raised a number of issues that the officers responded to as follows:

·       There were new management training schemes in place to help reduce the gender gap in representation at Extended Leadership Team level which stood at 50:50 compared to the 2:1 majority of women across the Council.

·       The figures included apprentices on full pay but not staff from maintained schools.

·       Part-time staff had equal access to education and training.

It was agreed that officers will provide a briefing on the various measures being taken to help those on more junior grades to progress in the organisation.

RESOLVED to:

·       Receive the report

·       Recommend the Gender Pay Gap report for 2023 for approval by Full Council.

Paul Tallant summarised the Ethnicity Pay Gap Report.  This was not a report the Council was required to produce but was provided for transparency.

Members asked if the briefing already requested could include measures to improve the ethnic diversity in staff as the statistics indicated that only 10% of Council staff were non-white, while the proportion in the population of Oxfordshire is 23.2%.  A further breakdown of ethnicity data by gender was also requested.

RESOLVED to receive the report for information purposes.