Warwickshire Police Gender Pay Report 2021 shows progress

The Chair of the Women of Warwickshire (WOW) network has welcomed the force’s progress towards equality and a representative workforce, as evidenced in the latest Gender Pay report – but said there is still more to do.

Warwickshire Police has this week published its Gender Pay Report 2020. Key findings include:

All Staff and Officers

• Overall the gender pay gap has decreased since 2019 based on the overall mean and median figures
• There has been a positive shift in the proportion of women in the upper pay quartiles.

Police Officers

• In contrast there has been an increase since 2019 in the gender pay gap based on the overall mean and median figures
• There has been a slight negative shift in terms of the proportion of women in the upper pay quartiles.

Police Staff

• The gender pay gap has decreased since 2019 based on the overall mean but increased in terms of the overall median figures
• There has been a positive shift in the proportion of women in the upper pay quartiles.

One of the factors impacting on the figures for police officers is that the number of female officers increased by 35% as the force grew in 2020, compared to a 21% increase in the number of male officers (in 2020 there were 324 female officers compared to 240 in 2019, whilst there were 669 male officers in 2020 compared to 550 in 2019). While this is a move in a positive direction for the force, it impacts on the figures as it means a higher proportion of our female workforce are ‘young in service’ and at the lower end of the pay scale.

Ch Supt Emma Bastone, Chair of the WOW network, said: “Warwickshire Police is creating an inclusive culture where everyone can be themselves and do their best work.

“Our gender pay continues to head in the right direction and we remain committed to narrowing the gap by balancing men and women across our organisation at all levels.

“Overall the gender pay gap has decreased since 2019 based on the overall figures, and whilst there has been a positive shift in the proportion of women in the upper pay quartiles in Police Staff roles, there has been a slight decrease in terms of the proportion of female police officers in the higher pay range.

“In spite of the progress made, there is still more we can do in respect of pay equality and the progression of women in the workplace. Warwickshire Police are proactively addressing gender pay differences and the causes of this in relation to promotion and progression of women, providing support by the Women of Warwickshire network (WOW) and other force initiatives such as coaching and mentoring, and positive action.”

The gender pay gap is a different issue to equal pay, which refers to any differences in the actual earnings of men and women doing work of equal value. The pay structures in place within Warwickshire Police mean that, irrespective of gender, anyone of the same rank or grade and length of service will be paid on the same fixed pay scale. The gender pay gap concerns the overall gender make-up of the workforce and representation at different levels of seniority.

 

Posted by SJC, Corporate Communications