Gender pay gap reporting from public bodies sees ‘marginal’ improvement – report

Reporting on gender pay gap data could still be improved from public bodies, Audit Scotland has said, after its latest study showed only “marginal” improvements.

Since 2013, listed public bodies north of the border have been subject to a duty to publish gender pay gap information under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012.

This means they must publish information every two years on the percentage difference, among all their employees, between men and women’s average hourly pay (excluding overtime in both cases).

Audit Scotland’s latest gender gap report, published on Tuesday, looked at a sample of 20 randomly picked public bodies.

Auditors wanted to check whether they published the overall mean and median pay gap figure, and whether they broke down the pay gap data at different levels – for example, by grade and job type.

They also wanted to see if any intersectional data was provided (combining gender data with data for one or more of the other protected characteristics such as religion and race), if public bodies were able to identify why there were pay gaps and any action to address the gender pay gap.

Out of the 20 reviewed for the report, Audit Scotland said 14 showed “a marginal improvement” in publishing the gender pay gap information requested, compared with previous years.

Key findings showed 85% of those sampled published their overall mean gender pay gap figure for all staff, with 13 of the 20 providing both a mean and median figure in their latest report.

Half of those reviewed provided some accompanying narrative or analysis of the gender pay gap figure.

A total of 45% gave information on job types and grading (sometimes known as occupational segregation), with the same amount also showing action to address the gender pay gap.

And 15% provided some additional data on gender and age, and gender and disability, which helps to identify if there are issues within specific sub-groups (intersectional data).

NHS Education Scotland (NES) was mentioned in the report as being a good example of how public bodies have improved as it reduced its mean gender pay gap from 13% in 2019 to 7.28% in March 2020.

Since 2017, NES has also taken steps to reduce the gap by introducing measures including improved flexible working options, providing support for carers, and regularly reviewing workforce data, the report said.

But Audit Scotland said the public bodies reviewed also continued to show “inconsistencies” in reporting gender pay gap data, with some failing to provide enough detail required.

“Our analysis suggests that not all public bodies are clear about how they should calculate and present gender pay gap data,” the report said.

“We found inconsistencies in the gender pay gap information provided.

“Legislation states that information should be published in a way that is accessible to the public, but we found that it was sometimes difficult to locate.

“There was often a lack of detailed analysis or sufficient breakdown of data, making effective action planning to reduce the gender pay gap more difficult.”

The report went on to explain common pitfalls in gender pay gap reporting.

These included failing to mention payment details of staff in the most senior grades or staff on fixed-term contracts when calculating the gender pay gap figure, publishing a full-time pay gap figure only, and errors in calculations.

Some public bodies also published separate figures for different staff groups rather than one overall figure, and few set out targets to address the gender pay gap.

The sample for the report included a wide range of size and type of organisations across local government, central government, further education and the NHS.