Council closes gender pay gap and betters national averages

Oxfordshire County Council has further reduced the gap between what men and women are paid and remains better than the national average across public sector organisations.

The gender pay gap is the difference between the average (mean or median) earnings of men and women across a workforce.

 A report to a meeting of full council (all 63 county councillors) in December reported that there had been a decrease in the mean gender pay gap from 2.3% in 2022 to 1.2% in 2023.

Cllr Liz Leffman, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council said: “We are committed to improving our approach to equalities, inclusion and diversity. While councillors were welcoming of news that the gender pay gap is so small and better than nationally there is still a small way to go to equalise the situation. We are keen that there should never be any barriers for women to progress into higher paid roles, or roles where they are under-represented.”

Since 2017, an employer that has a headcount of 250 or more employees on a ‘snapshot date’ has been required to comply with regulations on gender pay gap reporting. Gender pay gap calculations are based on employer payroll data drawn from a specific date each year.

This specific date is called the ‘snapshot date’. The ‘snapshot date’ for Oxfordshire County Council (as with most other public authority employers) is 31 March every year.

The council must report and publish its gender pay gap information by 30 March of the following year.