Transparency data

HM Land Registry: gender pay gap report 2021

Updated 9 February 2024

Applies to England and Wales

Analysis of our 2021 gender pay gap data suggests the actions we have taken to reduce the pay gap continue to have a positive effect. Our median pay gap reduced from 13.7% in 2020 to 0% this year, while our mean pay gap reduced from 8.5% to 7.5%.

Our gender pay gap derives principally from the higher proportion of women in relatively junior roles while being relatively under-represented in most middle to senior management grades. While we pay women the same rate as men for doing the same job, the combined effect of their representation within grades is to bring down the average pay for women compared with men.

As of 31 March 2021, 60% of HM Land Registry’s employees were women. Women make up 67% of our largest grade, Executive Officer (EO). Similarly, there are more women than men in every quartile, except for the upper quartile. However, since 2020 we have seen a positive increase in women in the upper quartile from 47.6% to 49%.

The very significant decrease in our median pay gap, from 13.7% to 0%, shows the effect of recruitment and growth within our case-working grades. What this drop tells us is that both the median man and woman within our organisation are now on the same grade and on the same terms and conditions.

Bonus payments

Our figures showing the percentage of men and the percentage of women in receipt of a bonus payment have also changed significantly this year. In 2020, 88.1% of men and 88.3% of women received a bonus. This has reduced to 43% of men and 44.6% of women. This change is due to the removal of a corporate performance bonus scheme, as part of a wider pay flexibility business case, in 2020. Bonus payments are now principally linked to assessments of individual performance, and more women are more highly rated through our performance appraisal scheme than men.

Diversity and inclusion strategy

In 2021, HM Land Registry adopted a Diversity and Inclusion Strategy focused on improving representation within our workforce, creating an inclusive culture, and embedding diversity and inclusion outcomes. A key objective in our associated action plan is to establish clear paths for progression into senior roles for women, support flexible working and operate family friendly policies.

Key actions we have taken include showcasing our women leaders using their personal stories and diverse recruitment campaigns. We have also targeted areas of the organisation where women are under-represented, supporting women to access development through programmes such as Women in Tech, BAME into Leadership and Women in Leadership.

Our external actions include:

• using inclusive language in job adverts that it is not subtly biased toward one gender (gender decoding)
• offering flexible working as standard in all our job descriptions – women are most highly represented in senior roles where there is correspondingly the highest number of part-time working opportunities
• broader advertising of all flexible vacancies, including Timewise Jobs and Mumsnet
• monitoring representation on recruitment panels, to make sure there is a diverse mix
• developing insight sessions on our application and interview processes

Our internal actions included:

• responding positively to the challenge of coronavirus (COVID-19) through policies supporting home-schooling parents and through a commitment to hybrid working, giving maximum choice to our people of when and where to work
• helping recruiting managers to attract diverse applicants by asking them to consider flexibility in their person specification, such as minimum hours, suitable working patterns and only using essential criteria (studies show that women are more likely to hesitate in applying for a job if they do not meet all the listed requirements)
• HR resourcing specialists delivering sessions at our internal development programme ‘Pathways’ about the top tips for making an application
• promoting job-share opportunities and our job-share policy with refreshed guidance on our corporate intranet
• challenging common misconceptions around part-time working
• promoting understanding of issues such as menopause

Summary

While our employment opportunities, working practices and inclusive culture continue to attract women into our workforce at all levels, a significant reduction in our gender pay gap will remain a challenge.

We recognise the opportunities that pay gap analysis and reporting provide to make sure our policies and practices are fair and equitable. We understand that change of this nature will take time to effect and we reaffirm our commitment to minimising our gender pay gap through longer-term legacy actions, which support and encourage women in our workforce and create and maintain a culture in which they can thrive.