Cabinet Office Gender Pay Gap Report 2024 (HTML)
Published 17 December 2024
Foreword
As Cabinet Office’s Chief People Officer I am now in a position to publish our gender pay gap figures for 2024.
Table A shows how the Cabinet Office gender pay gap, which includes agencies, has changed since 2017:
Table A
Year | Mean | Median |
---|---|---|
2017 | 10% | 12.3% |
2018 | 11.8% | 10.7% |
2019 | 10.3% | 8.8% |
2020 | 10.5% | 14.5% |
2021 | 9.9% | 9.8% |
2022 | 11.4% | 16.6% |
2023 | 10.9% | 20.2% |
2024 | 8.8% | 18.4% |
I am pleased to be able to report that the mean pay gap has reduced by 2.1% and the median pay gap has reduced by 1.8% since last year, which is encouraging and our mean pay gap is the lowest it has been since we started reporting in 2017 Our median however, while reducing from last year’s high, is still significantly high. More detail on the figures are set out in the main report, including factors driving the gap and our approach to reducing the gap further.
The workforce distribution in the Cabinet Office is reflected in the pay gap. For example, females are underrepresented in the more senior grades. Although there has been a 17.1% increase in representation in the most senior SCS grade (SCS3) in comparison to last year and the Cabinet Office now has a female Permanent Secretary, there is clearly still work to be done. We have a number of highly paid professional specialisms in the department, such as the Government Digital Service and the Government Commercial Organisation who have a higher proportion of male than female employees. Along with more targeted interventions, we must take evidence-based action to ensure we are focusing on creating a more inclusive working environment; attracting and retaining the best talent irrespective of gender, race or background and operating as a good, modern employer. It is vital that we regularly monitor the pay gap, and address the underlying issues it represents, so that we are back on track towards eliminating any gap.
While this year’s report shows promising movement in reducing both our mean and median pay gaps, more work needs to be done to reduce the gap further and achieve a better gender balance across all grades. We have a few key principles that underpin our approach to achieving this:
- Ensure employment and pay practices are fair and transparent for all.
- Ensure interventions and solutions are collectively developed and agreed, evidence based and targeted and sustainable and enduring.
Progress on addressing the gender pay gap will continue to be tracked, monitored and reported to our departmental Gender Champion and People Committee. Progress will also be reported to our Executive Committee twice a year.
Rebecca Hedges
Cabinet Office Chief People Officer
Introduction
In 2017, the Government introduced legislation that made it a statutory requirement for all organisations with 250 or more employees to report annually on their gender pay gap. Government departments are covered by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 that came into force on 31 March 2017. These regulations underpin the Public Sector Equality Duty and require the relevant organisations to publish their gender pay gap data annually.This includes mean and median gender pay gaps; the mean and median gender bonus gaps; the proportion of men and women who received bonuses; and the proportions of male and female employees in each pay quartile.
The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between men and women in the workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate that there may be a number of issues to deal with, and the individual calculations may help to identify what those issues are.
The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay denotes the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman.
The Cabinet Office supports the fair treatment and reward of all staff irrespective of gender and is committed to creating a culture that is transparent, diverse, and inclusive. To support this we have developed a set of principles to address the pay gap.
Principles:
- Reduce the Gender Pay Gap year on year
- Employment and pay practices are fair and transparent for all.
- Interventions and solutions are collectively developed and agreed, sustainable and enduring, evidence based and targeted
- Progress on addressing the gender pay gap will be tracked, evaluated and reported
The reporting period is 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
Organisational context
Launching and embedding a new approach to Diversity and Inclusion is one of the key ‘people’ commitments from the Declaration on Government Reform. The Cabinet Office 2022-2025 Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan is a data-driven and delivery-focused three-year strategy which will support the delivery of a Modern Civil Service. Below are the Cabinet Office commitments and how the strategy gives effect to them:
- value and invest in its people: With equal opportunities for career development and fairer performance management outcomes for all grades and demographics;
- value diversity of teams: Challenging groupthink and inspiring a greater diversity of thinking, with a workforce across the UK that is representative of the communities it serves, and inclusive teams embracing diversity of thought and encouraging innovation; and
- tackle bullying, harassment and discrimination (BH&D): Ensuring fairness in the workplace, addressing the BH&D gap for key groups and overall levels of BH&D.
Cabinet Office Structure
Cabinet Office Civil Service grades range from administrative grades to Senior Civil Servants. Grades vary according to the level of responsibility that positions have and each grade has a set pay range.
The gender pay gap figures also include two Cabinet Office agencies, Government Property Agency (GPA), and Crown Commercial Services (CCS) and the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO), a business unit within the Cabinet Office which comprises senior, accredited commercial experts at grade 7 and above across Government.
There were 7,853 staff in the Cabinet Office, 380 staff in Government Property Agency, 1,552 in Government Commercial Organisation, and 753 in Crown Commercial Services as at 31 March 2024 giving a combined total of 10,538 staff. Government Property Agency and Crown Commercial Services take their own approach to pay for delegated grades, and they both produce their own individual Gender Pay Gap report. This is the second year that Government Commercial Organisation figures have been reported separately to Cabinet Office figures. Where ‘excl agencies’ are stipulated in charts within this report, figures from GPA and CCS are not included.
The Cabinet Office gender split was 46.9% male staff and 53.1% female staff on 31 March 2024. Table B shows the breakdown of male and female staff represented in each grade in the Cabinet Office (excl. agencies). The biggest population within the Cabinet Office is employed in Grade 7, and within this band there are more male than female staff.
Table B shows that, within the Cabinet Office (excl. agencies), there is a higher percentage of female staff than male staff at early grades including Administrative Officer (AO), Executive Officer (EO), Higher Executive Officer (HEO) and Senior Executive Officer (SEO). Once we reach Grades 7, 6 and the Senior Civil Service (SCS) there is a higher percentage of male staff than female staff in the most senior grade areas.
Table B
Grade | % Female | % Male |
---|---|---|
AO | 55% | 45% |
EO | 59% | 41% |
HEO | 53% | 47% |
SEO | 56% | 44% |
G7 | 48% | 52% |
G6 | 46% | 54% |
SCS | 44% | 56% |
Other grades | 42% | 58% |
(Other grades to: TIS/Commercial Specialist/Assistant Commercial Specialist/Senior Commercial Specialist)
Government Special Advisers
To assist transparency, the Cabinet Office is also publishing gender pay gap figures for all Government special advisers. In view of the small numbers involved, it would not be appropriate for individual departments to publish this information.
As at 31 March 2024 there were 128 special advisers across all government departments. The mean pay gap was 5.26%, and the median pay gap was 8.60%.
Special adviser roles fall into four pay bands, with Band 4 being the most senior. The table below shows the breakdown of males and females represented in each pay band and overall:
Pay Band | Number of Special Advisers | Percentage of females | Percentage of males |
---|---|---|---|
Pay Band 1 | 10 | 30 | 70 |
Pay Band 2 | 68 | 34 | 66 |
Pay Band 3 | 35 | 34 | 66 |
Pay Band 4 | 15 | 27 | 73 |
Overall | 128 | 33 | 67 |
When salaries are sorted from lowest to highest hourly pay and then split into quartiles, the percentage of men and women in each hourly pay quarter is:
- lower hourly pay quarter: 69% men, 31% women
- lower middle hourly pay quarter: 56% men, 44% women
- upper middle hourly pay quarter: 66% men, 34% women
- upper hourly pay quarter: 78% men, 22% women
It should be noted that, due to the statistically small sample size, figures can fluctuate significantly with only a small number of changes to staffing.
The Gender Pay Gap
The median is calculated by placing all female figures in order and highlighting the midpoint, then comparing to the same for male. The overall figure will land in a different place depending on the dataset being used. This results in the figure for individual areas i.e. GPA, CCS etc. being different The mean figure is calculated by taking the average of all female hourly rates compared to the average of all man hourly rates.
Table C shows the gender pay gap from 2017 to 2024 for Cabinet Office (incl. Government Property Agency and Crown Commercial Services). This year has seen a decrease in both mean and median figures compared to 2023 and the mean figure is now at its lowest rate.
Table C
Year | Mean | Median |
---|---|---|
2017 | 10% | 12.3% |
2018 | 11.8% | 10.7% |
2019 | 10.3% | 8.8% |
2020 | 10.5% | 14.5% |
2021 | 9.9% | 9.8% |
2022 | 11.4% | 16.6% |
2023 | 10.9% | 20.2% |
2024 | 8.8% | 18.4% |
Table D shows the gender pay gap breakdown for each of Cabinet Office, Government Property Agency, Crown Commercial Services and Government Commercial Organisation for 2024. Cabinet Office has seen a 0.7% increase in the mean gap and a 1.7% reduction in the median gap; Government Property Agency has seen a 5.4% reduction to the mean gap and a 1.2% decrease in the median gap; and Crown Commercial Services has seen a 1.9% increase to the mean gap and a no change to the median gap. The Government Commercial Organisation has seen a 1.6% reduction in the mean gap and a 1.7% reduction in the median gap since 2023.
Table D
Group | Mean | Median |
---|---|---|
CO | 8.9% | 16.7% |
GPA | 8.1% | 9.4% |
CCS | 7.2% | 0% |
GCO | 5.6% | 3.2% |
Table E
Group | Mean 2023 | Mean 2024 | Median 2023 | Median 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|
CO | 8.2% | 8.9% | 18.4% | 16.7% |
GPA | 13.5% | 8.1% | 10.6% | 9.4% |
CCS | 5.3% | 7.2% | 0% | 0% |
GCO | 7.2% | 5.6% | 4.9% | 3.2% |
The Government Property Agency has a high proportion of property professionals who are highly paid and disproportionately male. We will continue to work closely with the Government Property Agency to ensure their actions to reduce the gender pay gap are captured in the overall action plan. The Government Property Agency will, as they did last year, produce their own Gender Pay Gap report and will be published later in the year.
Crown Commercial Services mean figure rose by 1.9% from 2023 to 2024, the median figure remained at 0%.
The Government Commercial Organisation is a business unit within the Cabinet Office which comprises senior, accredited commercial experts at Grade 7 and above across Government. They may be employed on Civil Service equivalent terms and conditions which are similar to Cabinet Office terms, or Government Commercial Organisation terms and conditions which offer higher salaries and significant performance related pay, offset by a reduction in other benefits including, but not limited to, lower pension employer contributions and annual leave entitlement.
Within the Government Commercial Organisation, there are more male employees on Government Commercial Organisation terms and more female employees on Civil Service equivalent terms. Just looking at commercial specialist roles, the split is 46.6% female and 53.4% male on 31st March 2024 (taken from workforce data pack)
This results in higher gender pay and bonus gaps in Government Commercial Organisation as the calculations used to determine the gaps consider consolidated and non-consolidated pay, but not pension contributions or other benefits and therefore do not account for the contrasting terms and conditions.
Distribution of women through each pay quartile
The hourly pay quartiles show the proportion of women that are in each pay quartile, when we arrange employees in order of hourly pay rate.
Table F shows that the lower and lower-middle quartiles continue to have a higher proportion of female employees for Cabinet Office (excluding Government Property Agency, Government Commercial Organisation and Crown Commercial Services). In 2023 we saw an increase in the number of female employees within the third quartile, and this still holds true for 2024, although this is not the case within SCS grades where only 43% of this quartile are female (table G). This figure for SCS, however, is up from 23% in 2023. There continues to be more female employees in grades below the Senior Civil Service. As with previous reported years, there is a higher proportion of male employees working at Senior Civil Service levels and they tend to sit at the higher end of their pay ranges.
Table F
Quartile | Male | Female |
---|---|---|
Quartile 1 | 45.1% | 54.9% |
Quartile 2 | 44.8% | 55.2% |
Quartile 3 | 45.3% | 54.7% |
Quartile 4 | 60.0% | 40.0% |
Table G
Quartile | Male | Female |
---|---|---|
Quartile 1 | 53.2% | 46.8% |
Quartile 2 | 46.5% | 53.5% |
Quartile 3 | 56.8% | 43.2% |
Quartile 4 | 72.7% | 27.3% |
Drivers of the Gender Pay Gap in 2024
This is by no means an exhaustive list and further work needs to be done with colleagues across the department to identify the issues behind the increase in the gender pay gap. We know there are wider issues at play that include talent, progression, recruitment and cultural issues
Similarly to 2023, we have undertaken more detailed analysis of the drivers of the gender pay gap. For Cabinet Office, these include:
- Seniority - there continues to be a higher percentage of female employees in the middle to junior grades and less representation of women at the more senior levels. The mean SCS female salary for on 31 March 2024 is £91,777 and the mean SCS male salary is £97,545. The percentage of female representation within Permanent Secretaries and Senior Civil Service (SCS) Grade 3 has increased since 2023; however, at all grades within SCS, there are fewer female employees than male employees. Table H below compares the percentage of female employees at senior grades from 2021 to 2024:
Table H
Grade | 2021 % Female | 2022 % Female | 2023 % Female | 2024 % Female |
---|---|---|---|---|
Permanent Secretary | 20% | 20% | 20% | 40% |
SCS3 | 18.2% | 13.6% | 27.3% | 44.4% |
SCS2 | 50.9% | 45.9% | 48.7% | 42.3% |
SCS1 | 47.8% | 46.2% | 48.4% | 46.9% |
- Profession Pay - there is a higher proportion of male than female employees in higher paid professional specialisms such as the Government Commercial Organisation, Government Digital Service and Infrastructure and Projects Authority. This includes male employees who are paid more on average than female employees at the same grade. More detailed data is required to determine the reasons behind this but it could be related to factors such as time in post, location, and the different types of roles within the grade.
- GCO gender split is 48.9% female, 51.1% male
- GDS gender split is 47.6% female, 52.4% male
- IPA gender split is 47.3% female, 52.7% male
- Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Pay - there has been a 86% increase in those completing the DDaT skills assessment and moving onto the DDaT Framework compared to the same period last year, however the male/female split within the framework has remained fairly constant, increasing slightly in favour to males: in 2023 56% male and 44% female, in 2024 58% male and 42% female.
Within the DDaT Framework roles, there is more of a disparity. You can see from Table I that the split between male and female changes significantly as you move within Job Groups. Group 3 is the lowest paid group with Extended being the highest. The Extended group includes the most skilled and hardest to recruit job roles, like Technical Architects and Software Developer roles. Figures have slightly reduced since last year and there is still work to be done.
Table I
Group | Male - 31 March 2022 | Female - 31 March 2022 | Male - 31 March 2023 | Female - 31 March 2023 | Male - 31 March 2024 | Female - 31 March 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Extended | 88% | 12% | 84% | 16% | 86% | 14% |
Group 1 | 70% | 30% | 67% | 33% | 69% | 21% |
Group 2 | 45% | 55% | 46% | 54% | 47% | 53% |
Group 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A* | N/A | N/A |
(*Group 3 has very small numbers of individuals completing assessment so have excluded % figures)
- Higher Starting Salaries (HSS) - data from the year starting 1 April 2023 shows the awarding of higher salaries skews in favour of male employees as we tend to see more requests for HSS for male employees than for female employees. There are, however, relatively small numbers of individuals who request and have approved higher starting salaries so it is unlikely to have a huge overall impact on the gender pay gap figures. Of the total HSS approved during 2023/24, 46.3% were for males, 27.8% for females and 25.9% for vacancies.
- Pay Award - the pay award for 2023 targeted employees who are lower in their pay band quartiles. Consequently, employees at the lower end of their grade band benefitted from a higher percentage uplift than those nearer the top of the band. This supported the increase of salaries for those at the lower end of the scales, who are predominantly female, and shortened the pay ranges. The 2024 pay award is a standard % increase across all pay ranges, consolidating work from 2023.
- London Based - work to increase the Cabinet Office’s geographical diversity continues, as part of the Government’s Places for Growth strategy. Of all the employees based out of London, a greater proportion are female (55%) and, as Cabinet Office has two pay ranges for delegated grades (London and National), this group is earning less than their counterparts in London. As part of our 2023 pay award we lifted the minimum and maximum of our National lowest band by a slightly higher percentage than we did for our London lowest band, in order to reduce the disparity between ranges.
Bonus Pay
Cabinet Office (including Government Property Agency and Crown Commercial Services) currently offers in-year reward and recognition schemes, as well as end-of-year performance awards.
Table J shows the mean and median bonus gaps of the Cabinet Office, Government Property Agency and Crown Commercial Services combined since 2017. There has been a 5.2% decrease in the mean gap and a 5.1% increase in the median gap since 2023.
Table J
Year | Mean | Median |
---|---|---|
2017 | 19.1% | 0% |
2018 | 18.9% | 9.6% |
2019 | 16.1% | 0% |
2020 | 18.4% | 0% |
2021 | 27.1% | 5.8% |
2022 | 29.6% | 2.2% |
2023 | 33.2% | 6.6% |
2024 | 28.0% | 11.7% |
Table K shows each organisation’s bonus gap, combined for in-year and end-of-year. For Cabinet Office only, the mean figures show that in 2024, the values of the bonuses women received were lower than those paid to men. The Cabinet Office differentiates the value of end-year awards by grade, and there is a higher representation of men in the higher grades, which results in men receiving a higher mean and median bonus award. Another factor is that end-of-year awards are pro-rated and, as 60.4% of part-time workers are women, this also contributes to the bonus gap. From March 2025 the Cabinet Office moves away from a combined bonus offering and will provide rewards using an in-year bonus offer only. This should contribute to a reduction in the bonus gap in future years, as these payments are not prorated or grade specific values.
Government Commercial Organisation employees on Civil Service equivalent terms receive bonus payments that are broadly comparable to those paid by the Cabinet Office. Conversely, those on Government Commercial Organisation terms are eligible for significant performance-related pay at the end of the performance year, (offset by reductions in other benefits as outlined above). As there are proportionally more male employees on Government Commercial Organisation terms, this contributes to the Government Commercial Organisation’s gender bonus gap.
Further information about the bonus gap for Government Property Agency and Crown Commercial Services will be covered in their individual report.
Table K
Group | Mean | Median |
---|---|---|
CO | 27.1% | 0% |
GPA | -16.1% | -20.0% |
CCS | -3% | -2.5% |
GCO | 22.8% | 29.4% |
Table L below breaks down the total number of non-consolidated bonuses paid to colleagues, split by grade.
Table L
Grade | Number of People in Receipt |
---|---|
AO | 17 |
EO | 78 |
HEO | 128 |
SEO | 189 |
G7 | 359 |
G6 | 159 |
SCS1 | 57 |
SCS2 | 14 |
Table M shows the proportion of men and women receiving a bonus since 2017 within the Cabinet Office. There continues to be a fairly even split of bonuses between men and women, with women continuing to receive in quantity more bonuses than men in 2024. The number of overall bonuses awarded has decreased since 2021 but remained consistent from 2023.
Table M
Year | Men | Women |
---|---|---|
2017 | 30% | 32% |
2018 | 40% | 40% |
2019 | 62% | 63% |
2020 | 62% | 62% |
2021 | 66% | 65% |
2022 | 46% | 47% |
2023 | 50.8% | 53.6% |
2024 | 50.6% | 53.4% |
Table N shows that more women received a bonus in the Cabinet Office, Crown Commercial Services and Government Property Agency compared to men. The Government Commercial Organisation’s figure shows that slightly more men received a bonus than women. The value of the bonuses for SCS increases the average in favour of men, and the lower number of women in SCS roles significantly impacts this data. There is also a higher number of men receiving the higher value of the end of year performance related bonus. In addition to this, more women receive in-year recognition rewards which are typically lower in value.
Table N
Group | Men | Women |
---|---|---|
CO | 46.8% | 49.7% |
GPA | 61.8% | 70.3% |
CCS | 60.5% | 68.3% |
GCO | 80.1% | 78.6% |
Tackling the Gender Pay Gap
Following publication of the 2024 Pay Gap figures, significantly more work needs to be done to reduce the gap and achieve a better gender balance across all grades. We have a number of key principles that must underpin our approach to achieving this:
- Ensure employment and pay practices are fair and transparent for all.
- Ensure interventions and solutions are collectively developed and agreed, evidence based and targeted and sustainable and enduring.
- Progress on addressing the gender pay gap will continue to be tracked, monitored and reported to our Gender Champion and People Committee.
- Progress will also be reported to our Executive Committee twice a year.
The Cabinet Office already has good practice:
- we have open and fair competition for all roles
- pay scales are easily accessible
- pay scales are included in job adverts
- we have good, embedded policies on flexible working, recruitment standards, carers charter
- we have well established and ongoing development opportunities for both delegated and senior civil servants
Below is a snapshot of the progress on priority actions we committed to over the last 12 months, and what we are focusing on in the next 12 months.
The following interventions aim to reduce the Gender Pay Gap and we plan to regularly monitor and evaluate the success of our actions by setting effective, achievable targets:
- Continue the focus with the Cabinet Office 2022-2025 Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan. The plan aims to increase diversity across the Cabinet Office to ensure colleagues feel valued for their contributions;
- Implemented the delegated 2023 pay award, which shortened pay ranges and progressed those at the bottom of the pay range up the range; and consolidated that with the 2024 pay award in August 2024 which paid an across the board percentage uplift. We anticipate implementing these pay awards in this way supported the reduction in figures given that there are more female colleagues both in the lower grades and also in lower quartiles of grades. SCS pay award is standardised across Government and we have less control of how to target this population and no control over pay ranges ;
- During 2024/25 the Cabinet Office is moving to a reward and recognition scheme for delegated staff focusing wholly on in-year reward and this is the last year that end of year performance awards will be paid for performance during 2023/24. We anticipate that moving to in-year reward only will reduce the bonus pay gap but this will not be reflected until March 2025 when the full impact of the move will be shown. However, there is commitment to collate and analyse bonus and protected characteristic data on a quarterly and ongoing basis, so trends can be tracked. This will not impact the SCS cadre and the current offer of both end of year and in-year bonuses will remain.
- Promote flexible working/ family friendly policies as part of the employee offer and wider benefits work, including Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Shared Parental Pay (ShPP), providing parents with the opportunity to share the care of their child in the first year; and updated our menopause in the workplace policy. These are all intended to improve attraction and retention of female employees in Cabinet Office, particularly in senior grades where numbers are lower;
- Continued implementation of the DDaT capability framework where salaries for all employees in scope are dependent on skills and capability only, including working with Tech Girls to encourage more female interest in digital roles. We have a high level of nominees for awards such as Women in Tech Awards, which supports recruitment. We also ensure inclusive panels, have an active women’s network and continuously blog with diversity in mind;
- Continuing action to improve our approach to attraction and recruitment:
- Building on our ambition to ensure that jobs are designed and advertised in a way that is gender neutral. This ensures recruitment is appealing to all and does not dissuade women from applying. Particular emphasis and support should be given to considering how the role, delivery and management of employees can incorporate flexibility of e.g. hours. This much better supports and empowers those with caring responsibilities which research shows are more likely to be women.
- As we develop the way we capture the effectiveness of our candidates, specifically for SCS, we will be developing and expanding our platform of advertising. This will ensure we broaden our search parameters beyond current traditional methodology and improve the diversity of candidates attracted to the SCS.
- To complement this we have developed our candidate packs, specifically career profiles which positively reflect and represent female employees operating at the higher levels of the organisation.
- Analysing gender data from application through the various selection stages to appointment to better understand any patterns relating to the comparative likelihood with which female applicants progress through the process to job offer.
- The Talent and Capability team is home to various Accelerated Development Schemes, alongside a range of learning and development interventions including:
- [AO - G6] Crossing Thresholds, which is a 12-month mentoring programme designed specifically to help women to develop their careers in a supportive environment.
- [G7 and G6] The Pipeline: Leadership Summit which is a highly immersive, engaging and stretching development experience that helps women find their power and their voice and to use these to achieve both career and life goals.
- [Deputy Directors] The Whitehall and Industry Group (WIG)’s Women’s Leadership Programme which supports talented mid to senior career women to get them to the next level exploring personal brand, leadership styles, developing confidence and resilience.
- [Directors] The Pipeline: Top Flight which is a Top Flight is a 12 month executive leadership development programme exclusively for women. It is designed to be undertaken whilst participants remain at work where they can incorporate their new-found knowledge into their day-to-day lives.
- [Directors] Senior Sponsorship: We will launch a new project in autumn 2024 to ensure every employee experiences Career Development Conversations, monitor compliance, and re-establish our training programme so that managers have the capability and skills to proactively support their employees’ career ambitions and potential.
- COHR and D&I will work actively with and support GEN, Parental Support and menopause networks on initiatives that may positively influence the pay gap for example with the introduction of a mentoring programme to help women move from delegated grades to SCS..
- Government Commercial Organisation: The Government Commercial Organisation has taken action to reduce the gender pay and bonus gaps by:
- using the annual pay award to continue reduce the width of the Government Commercial Organisation pay bands;
- applying higher percentage increases to employees whose salaries are in the lower quartiles of the pay bands, and who are more likely to be female;
- implementing a new approach to performance management for 2023/24 to ensure stretching objectives are set, quality performance conversations take place, bias is minimised and there is a more reasonable distribution of performance markings across the organisation.
- developing an offer framework to reduce the disparity in pay between those who join the Government Commercial Organisation from the external market (proportionally more men) and those who are promoted from within the Civil Service (proportionally more women). A pilot is expected to take place in 2025.
What we will do in the coming months
Despite the reductions in the mean and median pay gaps, it is imperative that we carry out further work in analysing the data and implementing and, not only reviewing our actions, but ensuring these are actively processed with senior endorsement. More responsibility and accountability will be given to individual business units to identify and explain the gender pay gap within their areas.
Our data needs to be broken down further in detail by grade, business units, and professions. This will be done alongside D&I colleagues and the Gender Equality Network (a staff network) in order to give a better understanding of the reasons behind the gap and monitor the impact our actions are making. We will target the ‘best practice’ to ensure resources used in tackling the pay and bonus gap are being best utilised.
We will also liaise with departments across the Civil Service and other organisations, specifically those where the gap has reduced due to the work they are doing, and where they have a similar demographic make-up. locations and/or business, to learn from good practice and accountability.
Reducing the mean and median gap is a priority and it is vital that we facilitate a culture of improving gender equality, not just in terms of pay but in all aspects of Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office Senior Leadership Team is committed to reducing the gender pay gap and monitoring the progress and effectiveness of the actions planned.
Declaration
We confirm that data reported by the Cabinet Office is accurate and has been calculated according to the requirements and methodology set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017.
Catherine Little, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer & Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary 2024