MHRA gender pay gap report: 2021 to 2022
Updated 5 January 2023
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Agency gender pay gap report: April 2021 to March 2022
Snapshot date: 31 March 2022
Definitions
Mean Gender Pay Gap in Hourly Pay
The difference between the mean* hourly rate of pay of males and females, where hourly pay includes basic pay, bonuses, and allowances. *average pay for all male and female employees
Median Gender Pay Gap in Hourly Pay
The difference between the median* hourly rate of pay of males and females *middle rate of pay (when listed in order) for all male and female employees
Mean Gender Pay Gap in Bonus Pay
The difference between the mean* bonus paid to males and females where bonus refers to a variety of bonus payments (see Point 4 below) *average bonus for all male and female employees
Median Gender Pay Gap in Bonus Pay
The difference between the median bonus pay paid to males and females *middle value of bonuses paid to all males compared to all female employees
Bonus proportions
The proportions of males and females who were paid a bonus
Quartile bands
The proportions of male and female employees in the lower, lower middle, upper middle, and upper quartile pay bands
Gender pay gap data
The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce.
This report fulfils our reporting requirements in providing an analysis of data and sets out what we are doing to close the gender pay gap in the Agency. We have not included contingent workers and contractors.
The information in this report is extracted from payroll data as at 31 March 2022 where 60% of the Agency workforce were female and 40% were male.
The Agency supports the fair treatment and reward of all staff irrespective of gender. Our pay approach is based on the principles of consistency, fairness and transparency.
| Data Summary | % |
|---|---|
| Mean gender pay gap in hourly pay | 6.2 |
| Median gender pay gap in hourly pay | 1.8 |
| Mean gender pay gap in bonus pay | 2.8 |
| Median gender pay gap in bonus pay | 0.0 |
| The proportion of male staff paid a bonus | 58.5 |
| The proportion of female staff paid a bonus | 53.6 |
The data summary is the overall Agency picture uses ‘raw’ data from the payroll system and is made up of an average of basic pay, bonuses, and allowances.
The mean gender pay gap has decreased since this was last reported in March 2021. This is due, in part, to an Agency transformation and also due to a higher proportion of female staff being promoted into more senior roles over the course of the year. In general terms the gender pay gap has reduced since we first reported on this in 2017.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
| Mean Gender Pay Gap tracker | 10.5% | 10.6% | 7.1% | 5.4% | 7.9% | 6.2% |
The median gender pay gap has also decreased since this was last reported. The median salaries for female and male staff are in the same grade and the increase in promotions has helped to narrow this figure.
Sections 3 and 4 below offer more analysis and explanation of the data that underpins this summary.
Proportion of male and female employees in each quartile (basic pay)
| Quartile | Proportion of male employees at the Agency | Male (%) | Proportion of female employees at the Agency | Female (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First quartile (lower) | 100 | 35.6 | 181 | 64.4 |
| Second quartile (lower middle) | 115 | 41.1 | 165 | 58.9 |
| Third quartile (middle upper) | 116 | 41.4 | 164 | 58.6 |
| Fourth quartile (upper) | 120 | 42.9 | 160 | 57.1 |
While there is a higher proportion of female staff in each of the pay quartiles when this is compared to the Agency demographic there is a higher proportion of female staff in the lowest pay quartile and a higher proportion of male staff in the highest pay quartile. These figures have both moved more in favour of female staff over the course of the year.
Further Analysis
The number of male and female employees at each grade/basic hourly pay
| Grade | Male | Female | Male Mean Hourly Rate | Female Mean Hourly Rate | % Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA/AO | 15 | 12 | £12.24 | £12.20 | -0.3% |
| EO | 58 | 103 | £14.49 | £14.54 | 0.3% |
| HEO | 70 | 104 | £17.43 | £17.51 | 0.5% |
| SEO | 93 | 153 | £21.73 | £21.68 | -0.2% |
| Grade 7 | 89 | 141 | £28.43 | £28.11 | -1.1% |
| Grade 6 | 80 | 85 | £35.95 | £36.03 | 0.2% |
| SCS | 46 | 72 | £45.61 | £46.53 | 2.0% |
This shows a salary analysis by grade, that shows basic pay only and does not includes allowances. The breaks the pay gap down by grade and shows a positive pap in relation to female staff in four of the seven grades. It also shows an increase in the pay gap in favour of male staff in line with seniority of grade.
Salary pay bands within the SCS are significantly larger than those within the delegated grades and this is a factor in why the difference is much greater here. However, it is worth noting that the differential at SCS has decreased from 3.9% in 2021 due to a higher number of female staff at this level, both as a result of the transformation and internal promotions.
Bonus Pay
It should be noted that there are separate schemes for delegated and SCS grades. Bonus pay include in year awards and vouchers paid to delegated grade staff, and in year and end of year awards paid to SCS staff.
Bonuses were paid to 572 staff in the delegated grades, this covers 57% of the delegated grade workforce. Similarly, these were paid to 53 staff in the SCS grades, this covers 46% of the SCS workforce.
- 55.5% of female staff in the delegated grades received an in year award or recognition voucher.
- 59.2% of male staff in the delegated grades received an in year award or recognition voucher.
- 53.7% of the female employees in the SCS received an end of year or in-year award.
- 58.8% of the male employees in the SCS received an end of year or in-year award.
Targeted action to reduce the pay gap
We have an active action plan in place to help reduce the pay gap. We work with our network groups and other key stakeholders to ensure that it is realistic and achievable and report annually to senior management on its progress. Our targeted action includes:
- focussing future pay awards on reducing specific pay ranges and on addressing specific pay issues that benefit the majority of our workforce. We will factor how the pay award effects staff covered by the 2010 Equality Act to monitor diversity related demographics to identify if certain staff are adversely affected.
- continuing to review our recruitment policies and processes to ensure fairness and equality, including the diversity of the interview panel and starting salaries.
- scrutinising and reviewing the recruitment journey from job posting through to job offer and monitoring job advertisements to ensure that they are gender neutral and fully reflect the benefits of working for the Agency.
- monitoring and reporting on the uptake of mandatory modular training on Diversity and Inclusion. This will be complemented by providing bespoke in-house recruitment training.
- supporting women returning to work following maternity or adoption leave, linking this to our Diversity and Inclusion framework and supporting other Agency-wide initiatives.
- improving representation of female participants on talent development schemes that are either run by the Agency or the wider Civil Service.
- evaluating our existing development programmes to assure our Talent Management processes.