Gender pay gap narrowing, council says

The gender pay gap is narrowing among Dudley council workers, authority bosses say.

Dudley Council's average pay difference for its male and female workers was 4.6%, compared to 7.9% last year, a report revealed.

Councillor Steve Clark, Conservative cabinet member for finance, told a cabinet meeting the reduction placed the authority "ahead of the curve", after the Office for National Statistics last reported the national pay gap to be 13.1%.

The reason for the smaller gap can be attributed to a drop in women working in part-time roles, with 221 employees leaving the council since last year, Clark added.

Councillor Shaukat Ali, Labour, said the decrease was a positive step forward, but the issue remained.

"Women are earning less than their counterparts and it reflects the challenges women face in the workforce," he explained.

A report also revealed the average hourly rate for men working for the authority was £17.53, while women, who make up 64% of the workforce, were paid on average £16.72.

"The lower paid roles within the council such as cleaner, catering assistant, administration are predominantly female", the report said.

"The majority of these roles are also part-time with female employees making up 80.22% of part time workers."

The report concluded, when compared to the average hourly rate of all employees across the council, the authority's pay gap is partially due to the high concentration of women in part-time and lower paid job roles.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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