Transparency data

DH gender pay gap report: 2016 to 2017

Updated 20 December 2017

1. Introduction

Earlier this year, the government introduced world-leading legislation that made it statutory for 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 which came into force on 31 March 2017. These regulations underpin the Public Sector Equality Duty and require relevant organisations to publish their gender pay gap by 30 March 2018. This includes information on:

• the mean and median gender gaps in hourly pay
• the mean and median gender gaps in bonus pay
• the proportion of men and women who received bonuses
• the proportions of male and female employees in each pay quartile

The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a 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 deals with 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 Department of Health is formed of the core department (DH) and its executive agencies, Public Health England (PHE) and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The department and its executive agencies support the fair treatment and reward of all staff irrespective of gender. The department and its executive agencies’ pay approach is based on the principles of consistency, fairness and transparency, supporting the fair treatment and reward of all staff irrespective of gender.

This report fulfils the department and its executive agencies’ reporting requirements, analyses the figures in more detail and sets out what we are doing to close the gender pay gap in the organisation.

1.1 Report population

Organisations

This report presents the combined data from the department and its executive agencies. This combined population breaks down as:

Organisation	Percentage of population
PHE	66.5%
DH	17.3%
MHRA	16.2%

Workers in scope

The department and its executive agencies’ employed civil servants and special advisers are included in the data. Fees-paid staff and contractors are not included. We intend to review the way we store information for this group in the future.

1.2 Gender profile

The gender profile of the department and its executive agencies is as follows:

Gender	Female	Male
Percentage	63.9%	36.1%

2. Gender pay gap report

2.1 Gender pay gap in hourly pay

The department and its executive agencies use Civil Service grades ranging from administrative assistant to senior civil servant. Each grade has a specific pay range. Grades vary by levels of responsibility and each grade has a set pay range. Staff move through the pay range as they develop their careers. Generally those who have spent longer in the same grade would be expected to earn more, regardless of gender.

For this report, hourly pay is calculated from base pay, allowances, and bonuses.

Mean and median hourly pay gap (overall)

14.2% Mean hourly pay gap

13.3% Median hourly pay gap

Mean hourly pay gap (split by organisation)

Organisation	Mean hourly pay gap
PHE	16%
MHRA	10.5%
DH (core)	7.8%

79.1% of colleagues in the lower quartile of pay are women. The difference in hourly pay is driven by a number of factors, including the greater proportion of men in SCS (49.2%) compared to the overall population (36.1%), and higher pay and higher bonus opportunity in the SCS. We will continue to do further work to understand this data.

2.2 Bonus gender pay gap

The department and its executive agencies’ performance awards were paid as a set value depending on grade and performance, regardless of gender.

Men form 49.2 % of the Senior Civil Service, compared with 36.1% across the department and its executive agencies. The performance awards are higher for SCS than at other grades, and this has therefore resulted in an increased bonus pay gap for the department and its executive agencies.

Mean and median bonus gender pay gap (overall)

33.1% Mean bonus pay gap

10.4% Median bonus pay gap

Mean bonus pay gap (split by organisation)

Organisation	Mean bonus pay gap
PHE	34.3%
MHRA	23.1%
DH (core)	12.0%

2.3 Proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment

Gender	Male	Female
Percentage	19.6%	17.8%

The difference in bonus pay is driven by the availability of higher bonuses in the SCS, where there is a greater proportion of men (49.2%) compared to the overall population (36.1%), compounded by the fact that 79.1% of staff in the lower quartile of pay are women, where the levels of bonus are smaller.

2.4 Proportion of males and females in each pay quartile

Lower quartile

Gender	Female	Male
Percentage	71.9%	28.1%

Lower-middle quartile

Gender	Female	Male
Percentage	68.6%	31.4%

Middle-upper quartile

Gender	Female	Male
Percentage	60.8%	39.2%

Upper quartile

Gender	Female	Male
Percentage	54.7%	45.3%

71.9% of colleagues in the lower quartile are female, compared with 54.7% in the upper quartile. As 63.9% of the department and its executive agencies workforce is female, this demonstrates that the pay gap is partly as a consequence of a higher proportion of females occupying more junior roles.

3. Actions to remove the gender pay gap

The department and its executive agencies are committed to addressing the gender pay gap. We are undertaking a number of actions to address this.

3.1 Reviewing our recruitment policies

We will continue to review our recruitment policies and processes, focussing on attracting women into SCS. We will do this by:

• identifying and removing barriers for entry
• anonymising the application process to reduce unconscious bias
• making sure interviewers have had unconscious bias training

We already operate a no single gender recruitment panel policy. In the core department women make up 45% of SCS. This is 47% for MHRA and 54% for PHE.

3.2 Supporting women returning to work

We will actively support women returning to work following maternity or adoption leave. We offer shared parental leave and flexible working opportunities, including:

• job share
• part time working patterns

We are committed to ensuring those returning from leave feel supported and welcomed.

3.3 Opportunity and support in development

We will ensure that women have the opportunity and support to develop their careers in the department.

We support development for those from all protected characteristic groups through talent management schemes such as Positive Action Pathways, and promote interventions aimed specifically at women. These include:

• Leadership Summit
• Crossing Thresholds
• Top Flight

These help women with potential to develop their skills and confidence to progress to executive roles.

3.4 Pay strategies

Through our pay strategies, we will take targeted action in the annual pay review to ensure gender pay differences are addressed, where possible.

3.5 Diversity and inclusion

We will continue to ensure that gender equality is an integral element of our diversity and inclusion strategy.

3.6 Support for women’s network

We will continue to support women’s network groups in providing a safe and positive environment for women to work in. Networks help to hold leadership teams to account on gender equality issues, and run networking sessions, career development events and guest talks about issues relating to women in the workplace.