City council narrows gender pay gap to £1.11

A city council has narrowed the pay gap between men and women working there.

Peterborough City Council said male employees earned £1.11 more per hour than females on average in 2024, which means the gap has reduced by 16p in the past year.

Companies with 250 or more employees must publish gender pay gap figures showing the difference between the average earnings of men and women.

The council said it was committed to making sure its pay and reward system was "fair and transparent".

In a report, the authority said it continued to review recruitment and retention practices.

It said it had agreed plans to revise its equality, diversity and inclusion strategy to "address any potential areas of inequality".

The council's average gender pay gap of 5.2% is significantly below the latest national public sector pay gap of 11.5%.

It said there were more staff members than last year, but the proportion of female staff in the workforce remained similar, at 74%.

The overall average hourly rate for men was £21.20, while for women it was £20.09.

The council also recorded ethnicity pay gap figures, which is voluntary, but the authority described the move as a "fundamental step" towards workplace equality.

It found non-white employees earned £1.98 less per hour on average than their white counterparts, a 9.6% difference in pay.

The council said it was difficult to provide accurate ethnicity figures because of the smaller numbers involved, and that not all employees gave their ethnicity information.

The data will be presented to the council's employment committee at a meeting on 5 September.

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