Women working at Portsmouth and Hampshire councils earn less than men, figures reveal

Employers with 250 or more workers must publish figures on differences in pay between their employees through the government's gender pay gap service.

Most local authorities in England and Wales submitted figures for the year to March 2022, with around a third of councils already doing so for the latest financial year.

The figures show the median hourly salary for women at Portsmouth City Council was 13.6 per cent less than for men in the year to March 2022 – meaning women's pay has decreased in relative terms, with women earning 9.3 per cent less than men at the organisation in the year to March 2021.

The comparable figure for Hampshire County Council was 16.3 per cent less for women than for men in the year to March 2022 – the same gap as for the previous year.

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Of the 307 councils that provided data for 2021-22, the average local authority paid women 3 per cent less than their male colleagues – a small improvement from 3.3 per cent the year before.

Data for 2022-23 puts the pay gap at around 2.9 per cent, although only 119 have submitted data so far, with neither Portsmouth nor Hampshire having done so yet.

Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women's rights, said: ‘While it's an important step, Gender Pay Gap Reporting isn't a solution on its own. As these figures show, there is a gulf between the best-performing and the worst-performing local authorities.’

Ms Olchawski urged employers to publish plans on how to tackle their pay gaps, recommending local authorities share knowledge with those that ‘need to up their game.’

The Local Government Information Unit, a membership body, said councils are moving in the right direction on the gender pay gap – but added there is ‘more work to be done,’ particularly in senior positions.

Jonathan Carr-West, the organisation's chief executive, said: ‘Just 22 per cent of council leaders are women and only 33 per cent of council chief executives. With women making up 78 per cent of the workforce across local government, this can have knock on effects across service areas as well as impacting development opportunities for women at all levels.’