The gender pay gap among Brent Council staff continues to close but female employees are still paid less than their male counterparts overall.

A report presented to the council’s general purposes committee today (Monday, March 15) showed in 2019/20, on average, women were paid 5.7 per cent less than men.

This continued the trend of seeing this figure decrease – last year the gap stood at 7.2 per cent, while in 2017/18 it was 8.2 per cent.

According to the report, the reason for the overall gap could stem from a higher proportion of women being in the middle-lower and lower pay quartiles.

The fact more men are entering the lower pay quartiles, while the number of women in the top earning category remains consistent, could explain why the gap is shrinking.

In terms of the ethnicity pay gap, those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities are paid, on average, 16.5 per cent less than White employees.

This is a minor increase (0.1 per cent) from 2018/19 – the council report suggested this is because the overall value of pay to BAME staff has stayed roughly the same despite more members of these groups entering the highest paid quartile.

The latest data also showed that council staff with disabilities receive 1.7 per cent less, on average, than those without.

Again, this represented an increase – the gap was just one per cent the year before – which the council put down to a decrease in the number of employees with disabilities in the top earning quartile.

Martin Williams, head of human resources at Brent Council, acknowledged there is still room for improvement in terms of addressing pay gaps, which he described as “a work in progress”.

But he suggested Brent was “ahead of the game” when compared with other local authorities and that it was committed to eradicating any differences.

Cllr Shama Tatler (Lab, Fryent), who is responsible for property, planning, and regeneration at Brent Council, agreed the data in the latest report was “promising”.

However, she said there should still be a push for more women in the higher pay quartiles, where they remain underrepresented.

The council has urged its employees to disclose as much information as possible around their gender, ethnicity, and disability status to help it achieve “more detailed analysis and meaningful proposals”.

It also intends to “raise awareness of unconscious bias” among staff, with training starting at corporate and middle management levels.