Corporate report

Equal pay audit 2021: MOD core civilian non-industrial personnel

Updated 23 May 2022

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Introduction

The Equal Pay Audit (EPA) examines the equality of pay of all non-industrial personnel by analysing the differences in average basic salary based on Gender and Ethnicity. This is in done to meet the department’s obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty to provide information on its workforce identified by the Equality Act 2010.

Analysis on length of service in substantive grade, working patterns, promotions and time to promotion have been conducted to provide possible explanations for differences in pay.

All data in this report covers MOD Main personnel only. See background notes section 5 at the bottom of this report to see details of personnel included/excluded.

Table 1.1 and 2.1 include both full-time and part-time personnel, while table 1.2 and 2.2 focus on part-time personnel only.

All tables in this publication can be viewed in Excel ODS format in the index page for this year’s report.

For data sources, symbols, table rounding, MOD to civil service grade conversions, and other rules please see background notes section 5.

Definitions of terms used in this publication are highlighted throughout the publication where relevant.

Average Basic Salary figures are derived from the basic monthly salary rate paid as at 1 October 2021, annualised to assume a whole year at the same salary rate. To assure comparability, for all personnel regardless of their full-time/part-time status, it represents what they would earn in a full year at the same salary rate with an FTE of 1.

Adjusted Average Basic Salary figures have been calculated using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) methodology, with adjusted averages obtained after the differential effects of Length of Service in Substantive Grade in males and females have been considered.

Length of Service (LOS) in Substantive Grade is how much time, in years to 1 decimal place, personnel have been in their actual grade for, regardless of temporary promotions or other pay arrangements.

Main Points

1.1: When average basic salary is adjusted for LOS in Substantive Grade, there is no substantial difference (less than 0.5%) between male and female average annual salary for all grades. However, ANCOVA adjustment caveats must be considered to fully understand adjusted salary differences.

1.2: Increased gaps in Average LOS in Substantive Grade between part-time males and females affects the average basic salary adjustments significantly for all grades above Higher Executive Officer. The number of female part-time workers is almost double that of males for nearly all grades, indicating different part-time working trends per gender.

2.1: For all grades, BAME personnel earn more on average than White personnel. However, it is important to note that the proportion of BAME personnel working in London is much higher than the equivalent proportion of White personnel in London, and therefore BAME personnel receive higher location related pay relative to White personnel.

2.2: Like 2.1, while part-time BAME personnel out-earn part-time White personnel in most grades, considering ethnic proportion differences is also important here as location pay policy can skew average basic salary comparisons between groups.

3.1: For all grades below Grade 6, more females were promoted than males, where it is also interesting to note that while females in lower grades take slightly longer to promote on average, at higher grades females get promoted quicker.

3.2: A significantly higher proportion of females were promoted than would be expected overall given the female proportion at the lower grade.

Full Time Equivalence (FTE) is a figure that allows part-time workers’ hours to be put into the same units as full-time workers.

Broader Banded grade is the MOD’s main civilian grade structure that Analysis Civilian report personnel against. See background notes section 5.2 for more information and Civil Service grade equivalents.

1. Average Salary by Gender and Grade

Table 1.1 - Civilian Personnel: Average Basic Salary by Gender and Grade

Grade by gender	Headcount	Average FTE	Average LOS in substantive grade (years)	Average basic salary	Average basic salary ANCOVA adjusted for LOS in substantive grade
Grade 6	590	0.98	3.6	£65,674	[z]
Male	385	0.99	4.1	£65,829	£65,775
Female	205	0.97	2.7	£65,385	£65,485
Difference	+180	+0.02	+1.4	+0.7%	+0.4%
Grade 7	1,642	0.98	3.5	£55,192	[z]
Male	957	0.99	4.0	£55,222	£55,154
Female	685	0.97	2.8	£55,151	£55,244
Difference	+272	+0.02	+1.2	+0.1%	-0.2%
Senior Executive Officer	4,398	0.98	4.8	£41,198	[z]
Male	2,601	0.98	5.7	£41,336	£41,235
Female	1,797	0.97	3.6	£40,997	£41,144
Difference	+804	+0.01	+2.1	+0.8%	+0.2%
Higher Executive Officer	6,230	0.98	5.3	£33,698	[z]
Male	3,374	0.99	6.1	£33,829	£33,765
Female	2,856	0.96	4.5	£33,543	£33,619
Difference	+518	+0.03	+1.6	+0.8%	+0.4%
Executive Officer	6,009	0.97	6.8	£27,033	[z]
Male	3,063	0.99	7.8	£27,135	£27,053
Female	2,946	0.96	5.7	£26,928	£27,013
Difference	+117	+0.03	+2.1	+0.8%	+0.2%
Administrative Officer	5,855	0.95	8.7	£21,490	[z]
Male	4,162	0.98	8.5	£21,535	£21,541
Female	1,693	0.93	8.7	£21,472	£21,470
Difference	+2,469	+0.04	-0.3	+0.3%	+0.3%
Administrative Assistant	2,653	0.97	8.9	£19,814	[z]
Male	1,806	0.98	9.4	£19,815	£19,815
Female	847	0.93	8.0	£19,813	£19,813
Difference	+959	+0.05	+1.4	+0.0%	+0.0%

Headcount is a measure of the size of the workforce based on number of personnel employed.

Non-Industrial personnel are civilian personnel who undertake work such as administration, analysis, policy, procurement, finance, medical, dental, teaching, policing, science, and engineering.

Table 1.1 shows the headcount, average (arithmetic mean) FTE, the average LOS in substantive grade, and average basic salary split by gender and grade for each non-Industrial grade. Adjusted Gender salary differences for LOS in substantive grade are presented but must be interpreted alongside ANCOVA caveats in the background notes section 5.1.

Adjusting for LOS in substantive grade resulted in average female salaries being broadly equivalent to average male salaries (for each grade the difference was no more than 0.4%). To illustrate this point, before the adjustment for LOS in substantive grade, there was a 0.1% difference, favouring males in Grade 7. After the adjustment, the difference was 0.2% in favour of females.

Adjusting average basic salary for LOS in substantive grade is important here because for all grades apart from administrative officers, male’s LOS in substantive grade is over 1 year larger than that for females. However, it is important to note that the reliability of adjustments to basic salary worsens if LOS in substantive grade is weakly correlated with basic salary per grade. ANCOVA assumptions not being followed could also reduce the reliability of the adjustment.

See background notes section 5.1 for more information on ANCOVA adjustments.

Full-time civil servants are those working 37 hours a week (36 hours or over in London), excluding meal breaks.

Part-time civil servants are those working fewer than 37 hours a week (36/37 hours in London), excluding meal breaks.

Table 1.2 - Civilian Part-Time Personnel: Average Basic Salary by Gender and Grade

Grade by gender	Headcount	Average FTE	Average LOS in substantive grade (years)	Average basic salary	Average basic salary ANCOVA adjusted for LOS in substantive grade
Grade 6	31	0.69	4.5	£66,113	[z]
Male	10	0.58	10.1	£67,420	£68,001
Female	21	0.74	1.9	£65,491	£65,214
Difference	-11	-0.16	+8.2	+2.9%	+4.3%
Grade 7	102	0.72	5.8	£55,528	[z]
Male	31	0.65	9.6	£56,565	£56,075
Female	71	0.75	4.1	£55,076	£55,290
Difference	-40	-0.10	+5.6	+2.7%	+1.4%
Senior Executive Officer	336	0.68	8.0	£41,650	[z]
Male	132	0.63	12.2	£42,515	£41,885
Female	204	0.72	5.3	£41,091	£41,498
Difference	-72	-0.09	+6.8	+3.5%	+0.9%
Higher Executive Officer	495	0.71	8.1	£33,947	[z]
Male	116	0.66	12.9	£34,887	£34,887
Female	379	0.72	6.6	£33,660	£33,801
Difference	-263	-0.06	+6.2	+3.6%	+3.2%
Executive Officer	553	0.69	9.5	£27,179	[z]
Male	130	0.65	13.3	£27,535	£27,255
Female	423	0.70	8.4	£27,070	£27,156
Difference	-293	-0.05	+4.9	+1.7%	+0.4%
Administrative Officer	940	0.66	10.0	£21,471	[z]
Male	108	0.63	9.9	£21,610	£21,614
Female	832	0.66	10.0	£21,453	£21,453
Difference	-724	-0.03	-0.2	+0.7%	+0.8%
Administrative Assistant	240	0.63	10.4	£19,810	[z]
Male	69	0.57	12.1	£19,810	£19,810
Female	171	0.66	9.8	£19,810	£19,810
Difference	-102	-0.09	+2.3	+0.0%	+0.0%

Table 1.2 shows the same outputs as in Table 1.1, but for part-time personnel only.

Average basic salary for part-time personnel is presented as annualised to be comparable to individuals working varying numbers of hours. This is derived from the basic monthly salary as at 1 October 2021 which is what they would receive if they worked full-time, multiplied by 12 to obtain the annualised basic salary assuming an FTE of 1.

For all grades, females make up most of the part-time workforce which is important to consider when comparing averages. Average FTE for part-time personnel tends to increase for females as their grade increases, but for males, average FTE is mostly constant as grade increases.

FTE variations below 1 and gender population differences show that for the part-time workforce, females are more likely to take part-time work, but their contracted hours within that part-time contract is higher on average than male part-time hours. This indicates different part-time working trends per gender as they transition through higher grades.

Males have a higher average LOS in substantive grade across all grades. It is also clear to see that the average male LOS in substantive grade for part-time workers per grade is 10 years greater than the average females. It can therefore be inferred that, especially for male workers, as LOS in substantive grade increases, the probability of taking up part-time work greatly increases.

The gender difference is highest for Grade 6 personnel, where the average gender LOS in substantive grade gap is 8.2 years in favour of males. When adjusting average basic salary for this at Grade 6 we see the average salary gender difference rise further in favour of males, but again, it is important to note the reliability of ANCOVA adjustments depends on how correlated average salary is with LOS in substantive grade and how well ANCOVA assumption are being followed. For all other grades, the average basic salary gap has narrowed or stayed roughly equal after adjusting for LOS in substantive grade.

2. Average Salary by Ethnicity and Grade

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) is now the widely used terminology, as a collective descriptor for non-white citizens, across Whitehall, other public sector bodies and the third sector, as well as among civil service race staff networks and their cross-Whitehall umbrella body, the Civil Service Race Forum. See also Ethnic Origin.

Ethnic Origin is the ethnic grouping to which a person has indicated that they belong. The classifications used were revised for the 2011 Census of Population when a classification of nationality was also collected. Ethnic background, disability, religion, and sexual orientation are self-declared. Therefore, representation rates are calculated from known declarations and exclude unknown and undeclared personnel.

Table 2.1 - Civilian Personnel: Average Basic Salary by Ethnicity and Grade

Grade by gender	Headcount	Average FTE	Average LOS in substantive grade (years)	Average basic salary
Grade 6	524	0.98	3.6	£65,659
White	491	0.98	3.8	£65,631
BAME	33	0.99	1.7	£66,073
Difference	+458	-0.01	+2.0	-0.7%
Grade 7	1,411	0.98	3.5	£55,164
White	1,310	0.98	3.6	£55,143
BAME	101	0.99	2.2	£55,444
Difference	+1,209	-0.01	+1.5	-0.5%
Senior Executive Officer	3,865	0.97	4.9	£41,187
White	3,540	0.97	5.0	£41,150
BAME	325	0.98	3.3	£41,591
Difference	+3,215	-0.01	+1.7	-1.1%
Higher Executive Officer	5,491	0.98	5.2	£33,673
White	5,084	0.98	5.4	£33,660
BAME	407	0.99	3.5	£33,834
Difference	+4,677	-0.01	+1.9	-0.5%
Executive Officer	5,383	0.97	6.8	£27,023
White	5,055	0.97	6.9	£27,014
BAME	328	0.98	4.8	£27,150
Difference	+4,727	+0.00	+2.1	-0.5%
Administrative Officer	5,305	0.94	8.7	£21,488
White	4,945	0.94	8.8	£21,454
BAME	360	0.96	7.7	£21,964
Difference	+4,585	-0.02	+1.1	-2.3%
Administrative Assistant	2,360	0.97	9.4	£19,814
White	2,209	0.97	9.3	£19,813
BAME	151	0.98	10.8	£19,842
Difference	+2,058	-0.02	-1.5	-0.2%

Table 2.1 examines the headcount, average (arithmetic mean) FTE, the average LOS in substantive grade, and average basic salary split by ethnicity and grade for each non-Industrial grade. ANCOVA adjusted salaries have not been analysed here as salary differences in ethnic groups are affected more by location pay policy rather than LOS in substantive grade.

As mentioned in the ‘Main Points’ at the start for all grades, BAME personnel earn more on average than White personnel. It is important to note however, that the proportion of BAME personnel working in London (41.3%) is much higher than the equivalent proportion for White personnel working in London (10%).

Since the cost of living in London is higher than that for the rest of the UK, MOD increase pay ranges for all London personnel per grade (see section 4 for London vs National pay ranges per grade). This policy combined with the low numbers of BAME personnel, causes BAME personnel’s average salary to rise above their White counterpart’s average salary.

Table 2.2 - Civilian Part-Time Personnel: Average Basic Salary by Ethnicity and Grade

Grade by gender	Headcount	Average FTE	Average LOS in substantive grade (years)	Average basic salary
Grade 6	[c]	[z]	[z]	[z]
White	29	0.68	4.7	£66,066
BAME	[c]	[z]	[z]	[z]
Difference	[z]	[z]	[z]	[z]
Grade 7	[c]	[z]	[z]	[z]
White	92	0.72	5.7	£55,540
BAME	[c]	[z]	[z]	[z]
Difference	[z]	[z]	[z]	[z]
Senior Executive Officer	308	0.68	8.1	£41,706
White	288	0.68	8.1	£41,648
BAME	20	0.69	8.0	£42,548
Difference	+268	-0.01	+0.1	-2.1%
Higher Executive Officer	446	0.71	8.0	£33,923
White	426	0.71	8.2	£33,937
BAME	20	0.75	3.2	£33,631
Difference	+406	-0.04	+5.0	+0.9%
Executive Officer	504	0.69	9.7	£27,175
White	478	0.69	9.9	£27,168
BAME	26	0.69	7.6	£27,296
Difference	+452	+0.00	+2.3	-0.5%
Administrative Officer	868	0.66	10.1	£21,468
White	828	0.66	10.2	£21,454
BAME	40	0.63	8.8	£21,741
Difference	+788	+0.03	+1.3	-1.3%
Administrative Assistant	217	0.64	10.7	£19,810
White	211	0.64	10.7	£19,809
BAME	6	0.61	7.7	£19,838
Difference	+205	+0.03	+3.1	-0.2%

Table 2.2 shows the same outputs as in Table 2.1, but for part-time personnel only. A number of categories within this table do not have sufficient numbers and have been omitted with a [c] for confidentiality reasons (see section ‘Symbols and Conventions’ in the background notes section 5.1 for more detail).

At Grades 6 and 7, the numbers of part-time BAME personnel is too small to reliably conduct any statistical analysis, but we can see for all grades below 6 and 7, that FTE is broadly similar for White and BAME personnel.

Average salary differences go in favour of BAME personnel per grade apart from Higher Executive Officers due to the small proportion of BAME personnel in each grade, it would be prudent to interpret further analysis with caution, considering many possible reasons for any differences that may be observed.

3. Promotion by Gender and Grade

Promotions include those personnel who were permanently promoted or advanced within in the report’s reference period (including a small number of personnel who were both recruited and promoted within the period).

Length of Time to Promotion is the time (in years) it takes to be promoted to a grade above your current substantive grade.

Table 3.1 - Promoted Civilian Personnel: Average Basic Salary by Gender and Grade and Length of Time to Promotion

Grade by gender	Number of promotions into grade	Average basic salary on promotion	Average LOS to promotion (years)
Grade 6	100	£64,286	3.0
Male	59	£64,053	3.6
Female	41	£64,622	2.2
Difference	+18	-0.9%	+1.4
Grade 7	238	£53,861	3.0
Male	117	£53,801	3.3
Female	121	£53,919	2.6
Difference	-4	-0.2%	+0.7
Senior Executive Officer	552	£40,101	2.5
Male	270	£40,054	2.5
Female	282	£40,146	2.6
Difference	-12	-0.2%	-0.1
Higher Executive Officer	587	£33,082	2.8
Male	246	£33,100	2.8
Female	341	£33,069	2.8
Difference	-95	+0.1%	+0.0
Executive Officer	450	£26,159	3.8
Male	143	£25,957	3.7
Female	307	£26,254	3.8
Difference	-164	-1.1%	-0.1
Administrative Officer	129	£21,183	3.6
Male	46	£21,418	3.1
Female	83	£21,054	3.8
Difference	-37	+1.7%	-0.7

Table 3.1 shows the number of males and females in each grade who were promoted/advanced from their substantive grade in the period: 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021. Temporary promotions were not included here, except where those temporary promotions were made permanent. Extra exclusions were made for the promotion analysis and can be seen in the background notes section 5.4.

The grades referenced in this table are personnel’s post-promotion grade, accompanied by their post-promotion salary, i.e. where a Grade 7 was promoted to a Grade 6, they are listed here as Grade 6 with their new Grade 6 salary. Administrative Assistants have been omitted from this table as it is not technically possible to promote into this grade. This table also considers the average LOS to promotion, to observe and compare by gender, the length of time it took to be promoted.

In all grades other than Grade 6, more females were promoted than males. The average LOS to promotion is slower for females than males for those grades below Grade 7, but at higher grades (Grades 6 & 7), females are promoted quicker, with Grade 6 female promotes having almost one and a half years less average LOS to promotion than their male counterparts.

It is important to note that these figures do not represent the average length of time spent within a grade that it takes to achieve promotion, as there are inevitably many other individuals remaining in the previous grade who will achieve promotion in the future. These figures are simply representative of the average length of time spent in the previous grade prior to promotion by those who were promoted within the stated period.

The average basic salary on promotion of males and females in each grade remains comparable for most grades, with a difference of less than one percent for all grades apart from Executive Officer and Administrative Officer. Generally, upon promotion, promotes will be placed on the minimum pay scale of their new grade so London/National pay scale differences could be contributing to much of the gender salary difference.

Table 3.2 - Promoted Civilian Personnel: Promotion Rates by Gender and Grade

Grade by gender	Number of promotions into grade	Average headcount at lower grade	Female promotion rate compared to lower grade promotion rate	Statistical significance	Promotion rate into grade
All Non-Industrial grades	2,056	25,508			8.1%
Male	881	12,342			7.1%
Female	1,175	13,166			8.9%
Female Proportion	57.1%	51.6%	+5.5%	[s]	-1.8%
Grade 6	100	563			17.8%
Male	59	364			16.2%
Female	41	199			20.6%
Female Proportion	41.0%	35.4%	+5.7%	[ns]	-4.4%
Grade 7	238	1,604			14.8%
Male	117	940			12.4%
Female	121	663			18.2%
Female Proportion	50.8%	41.3%	+9.5%	[s]	-5.8%
Senior Executive Officer	552	4,332			12.7%
Male	270	2,597			10.4%
Female	282	1,735			16.2%
Female Proportion	51.1%	40.1%	+11.0%	[s]	-5.9%
Higher Executive Officer	587	6,165			9.5%
Male	246	3,374			7.3%
Female	341	2,791			12.2%
Female Proportion	58.1%	45.3%	+12.8%	[s]	-4.9%
Executive Officer	450	6,073			7.4%
Male	143	3,116			4.6%
Female	307	2,956			10.4%
Female Proportion	68.2%	48.7%	+19.6%	[s]	-5.8%
Administrative Officer	129	6,773			1.9%
Male	46	1,952			2.4%
Female	83	4,821			1.7%
Female Proportion	64.3%	71.2%	-6.8%	[ns]	+0.6%

Table 3.2 shows the number of permanent promotions into grade by gender highlighting the proportion of those who were female and then running a two-proportions z-test to test for gender bias in promotions. Promotion rates by gender and their differences can also be observed.

Average headcount is calculated as a 13-month weighted average and represents the pool of people at one grade beneath the promotion grade (lower grade). It is assumed for simplicity that there are no promotions from two grades below or more.

The two-proportions z-test is a statistical significance test which examines, per grade, whether the difference between the promoted female proportion is significantly different to the female proportion in the lower grade. Where the difference is above 0, the promoted female proportion is higher than the lower grade female proportion. Whether these differences are statistically significant can be identified by an [s] in the ‘Statistical significance’ column and the significance test is conducted at a 95% confidence level.

A marker for statistical significance ([s]) implies possible gender bias in promotions since the null hypothesis is ‘no gender bias on promotion’, so promotions at these grades may be worth examining. For more information on how a two-proportions z-test is applied to the analysis, see background notes section 5.1.

In all grades apart from Administrative Officer, the female promotion rate was higher than the male rate. Taking this proportional difference in favour of females and testing it for gender bias on promotion indicates statistical significance at all grades except for Grade 6 and Administrative Officer.

Overall, for all non-industrial grades, we see statistically significant evidence for gender bias on promotion. This is further evidenced by the promotion rate favouring females for all grades except Administrative Officer.

4. Ministry of Defence Broader Banded Pay Ranges

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) considers it a necessary and fair measure to address the pay gap between people being paid considerably less than colleagues performing a similar role at the same grade.

The MOD civilian pay award followed the guidance of the 2021/22 Civil Service pay remit, confirming:

• MOD will pay a one-year consolidated pay award of £250 for all eligible staff earning a full-time equivalent salary of less than £24,000 and a tapering of the award up to £24,250 for those earning between £24,000 and £24,250.

• Personnel earning above £24,250 received no increase in salary value in accordance with Cabinet Office pay guidance.

This means most non-Industrial civilian personnel will stay on the same pay rate for the period 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022.

These pay scale changes over the past 5 years can be summarised in the table below, or the attached Excel ODS Non-Industrial table in the index page of this year’s report.

Grade	Salary Range	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2016-2021 difference change
Grade 6
London	Maximum Salary	£72,907	£73,272	£73,858	£74,597	£75,343	£75,343
London	Minimum Salary	£61,778	£62,458	£63,582	£65,044	£65,500	£65,500
London	Difference	£11,129	£10,814	£10,276	£ 9,553	£ 9,843	£ 9,843	-11.6%
National	Maximum Salary	£70,103	£70,454	£71,018	£71,728	£72,445	£72,445
National	Minimum Salary	£59,388	£60,041	£61,122	£62,528	£63,500	£63,500
National	Difference	£10,715	£10,413	£ 9,896	£ 9,200	£ 8,945	£ 8,945	-16.5%
Grade 7
London	Maximum Salary	£60,130	£60,431	£60,914	£61,523	£62,138	£62,138
London	Minimum Salary	£52,467	£53,044	£53,999	£55,241	£55,550	£55,550
London	Difference	£ 7,663	£ 7,387	£ 6,915	£ 6,282	£ 6,588	£ 6,588	-14.0%
National	Maximum Salary	£57,817	£58,106	£58,571	£59,157	£59,749	£59,749
National	Minimum Salary	£50,440	£50,995	£51,913	£53,107	£53,500	£53,500
National	Difference	£ 7,377	£ 7,111	£ 6,658	£ 6,050	£ 6,249	£ 6,249	-15.3%
Senior Executive Officer
London	Maximum Salary	£44,711	£44,935	£45,294	£45,747	£46,204	£46,204
London	Minimum Salary	£39,027	£39,456	£40,166	£41,090	£41,500	£41,500
London	Difference	£ 5,684	£ 5,479	£ 5,128	£ 4,657	£ 4,704	£ 4,704	-17.2%
National	Maximum Salary	£42,991	£43,206	£43,552	£43,988	£44,428	£44,428
National	Minimum Salary	£37,527	£37,940	£38,623	£39,511	£40,000	£40,000
National	Difference	£ 5,464	£ 5,266	£ 4,929	£ 4,477	£ 4,428	£ 4,428	-19.0%
Higher Executive Officer
London	Maximum Salary	£36,696	£36,879	£37,174	£37,546	£37,921	£37,921
London	Minimum Salary	£32,035	£32,387	£32,970	£33,728	£34,000	£34,000
London	Difference	£ 4,661	£ 4,492	£ 4,204	£ 3,818	£ 3,921	£ 3,921	-15.9%
National	Maximum Salary	£35,285	£35,461	£35,745	£36,102	£36,463	£36,463
National	Minimum Salary	£30,797	£31,136	£31,696	£32,425	£33,000	£33,000
National	Difference	£ 4,488	£ 4,325	£ 4,049	£ 3,677	£ 3,463	£ 3,463	-22.8%
Executive Officer
London	Maximum Salary	£29,383	£29,530	£29,766	£30,064	£30,365	£30,365
London	Minimum Salary	£25,663	£25,945	£26,412	£27,019	£27,200	£27,200
London	Difference	£ 3,720	£ 3,585	£ 3,354	£ 3,045	£ 3,165	£ 3,165	-14.9%
National	Maximum Salary	£28,253	£28,394	£28,621	£28,907	£29,196	£29,196
National	Minimum Salary	£24,663	£24,934	£25,383	£25,967	£26,350	£26,350
National	Difference	£ 3,590	£ 3,460	£ 3,238	£ 2,940	£ 2,846	£ 2,846	-20.7%
Administrative Officer
London	Maximum Salary	£22,345	£22,457	£22,637	£22,863	£23,092	£23,342
London	Minimum Salary	£20,704	£20,932	£21,309	£21,799	£22,388	£22,638
London	Difference	£ 1,641	£ 1,525	£ 1,328	£ 1,064	£ 704	£ 704	-57.1%
National	Maximum Salary	£20,883	£20,987	£21,155	£21,367	£21,581	£21,831
National	Minimum Salary	£19,346	£19,559	£19,911	£20,369	£20,919	£21,169
National	Difference	£ 1,537	£ 1,428	£ 1,244	£ 998	£ 662	£ 662	-56.9%
Administrative Assistant
London	Maximum Salary	£19,003	£19,098	£19,251	£19,444	£19,647	£19,897
London	Minimum Salary	£17,606	£17,800	£18,700	£19,130	£19,647	£19,897
London	Difference	£ 1,397	£ 1,298	£ 551	£ 314	£ 0	£ 0	[z]
National	Maximum Salary	£17,760	£17,849	£17,992	£18,414	£19,559	£19,809
National	Minimum Salary	£16,455	£16,636	£17,476	£18,414	£19,559	£19,809
National	Difference	£ 1,305	£ 1,213	£ 516	£ 0	£ 0	£ 0	[z]

5. Background Notes

5.1 Accessibility and Clarity

Accessibility

This document follows MOD’s and GOV.UK’s accessibility guidelines which can be found here: MOD’s accessible documents policy and here: GOV.UK’s accessibility statement.

The main body of the report is produced in HTML Markdown format and the tables in this report are replicated in accessible Excel ODS format (attached in the index page of this year’s report) in case users would like to do further analysis with the figures provided.

Symbols

Symbol	Definition
[z]	figure/calculation not applicable as data is not of a sufficient size/calculation is not relevant
[c]	figure is less than 5 and omitted due to confidentiality risks
[s]	statistically significant at the 5% level
[ns]	not statistically significant at the 5% level

Rounding

Where rounding has been used, totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and may not equal the sums of their rounded parts. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in ‘5’ have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

All percentages are calculated from headcount totals (part time equivalent to one person), from unrounded figures and are shown to 1 decimal place.

Salaries have been averaged and rounded to the nearest pound sterling for presentation purposes.

Clarifications

Statistical Significance Testing is used in section 3.2, testing for the relative differences in female proportions within promotion groups for each grade, comparing them to the female proportion of the lower grade from which they were promoted. The test is called a two-proportions z-test and only needs to be conducted on the female proportion, as we are considering the proportion as females divided by the sum of males and females in each case.

This is different to the significance test methodology used prior to 2012 which compared the promotion rates of male to females. It has been determined that this method is not the most appropriate and can be distorted by the fact that male and female rates are not independent of each other, whereas the proportion of females in the promotion group is independent of the proportion of females within the lower grade group. This can be assumed to be true where the factors that influence promotion are equally distributed for men and women. Therefore, a statistical test result of significant ([s]) suggests that either gender or a factor that is gender biased is having an influence on promotion.

Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) is a statistical methodology to obtain average salary figures adjusted for Length of Service (LOS) in substantive grade. ANCOVA is a standard statistical methodology used to adjust the means between groups after accounting for and removing the effects of other correlated variables (covariates). These adjusted means allow observation of any differences between groups in the variable of interest on an equal and more comparable basis.

The adjusted average salary figures presented in section 1 were derived from this approach to enable average salary to be compared between males and females in each grade without being confounded by the effects of the differing length of service in grade of males and females in each group. The resulting adjusted average salaries represent what the average salary for each gender within a specific grade would be if the average LOS in substantive grade for each gender were equal for both genders.

However, to ensure accurate ANCOVA adjustments, the following statistical assumptions should be accounted for:

• Observations in the data must be independent.
• The dependent variable (in this case average salary) should be roughly be normally distributed within each subpopulation.
• The relationship between the covariate (in this case LOS in substantive grade) and the dependent variable must be linear.
• Homogeneity: the variance of the dependent variable must be equal over all subpopulations.

This year’s data showed a weak linear relationship for most grades. Additionally, the homogeneity assumption for all grades apart from Grade 7, was not met. Analysis Civilian continue to monitor these assumption’s effect on ANCOVA adjustments to ensure robust and accurate statistical processes are being followed.

5.2 Grade Structures

Since 1 April 1996 all departments and agencies have had delegated responsibility for the pay and grading of their employees, except for those in the Senior Civil Service (SCS). As of April 2022, Analysis Civilian will begin reporting grades as per the civil service-wide structure.

The MOD grades are shown here against levels broadly equivalent (in terms of pay and job weight) to the civil service-wide grades.

Civil Service grades	MOD Non-Industrial grades
SCS – Senior Civil Service	SCS – Senior Civil Service
Other Management Grades	Other Management Grades
Grade 6	B1 & equivalents
Grade 7	B2 & equivalents
SEO - Senior Executive Officer	C1 & equivalents
HEO - Higher Executive Officer	C2 & equivalents
EO - Executive Officer	D & equivalents
AO - Administrative Officer	E1 & equivalents
AA - Administrative Assistant	E2 & equivalents

5.3 Source Data

Diversity and personnel data for MOD Main personnel in this report has been taken from the Human Resources Management System (HRMS). This has been directly sourced to Analysis Civilian on a monthly basis since April 2004.

From February 2022 onwards, Analysis Civilian will begin receiving diversity and personnel data from a new HR system called MyHR.

To derive Top Level Budgetary Area splits, Analysis Civilian use budgetary UINs and attribute people according to the budgetary area that pays them, using the Standing Data System hierarchy from Financial Management Information Systems.

Promotion and pay data in this report is sourced from Defence Business System’s (DBS) and Civilian Harmonised Integrated Payroll System’s (CHIPS) data base respectively, and is provided to Analysis Civilian on an annual basis after the pay award has been fully implemented (usually as at 1 October).

Variables in the DBS dataset includes those receiving a promotion in the relevant period, the date of that promotion, the grade they were promoted from and the new grade they have been promoted into as well as the length of service in grade prior to promotion. Annualised basic salary and pay grade as at 1 October 2021 are variables in the CHIPS database.

5.4 Data Revisions and Exclusions

Data revisions are handled in accordance with the MOD’s Official Statistics Revisions and Corrections Policy.

The analyses conducted within this report requires exclusions. The population in this report is summarised in the table below:

Ministry of Defence Civilian Group	Included
MOD Main TLBs
UK Strategic Command	✔
Navy Command	✔
Army Command	✔
Air Command	✔
Defence Infrastructure Organisation	✔
Head Office and Corporate Services	✔
Defence Nuclear Organisation 1	✔
Trading Fund and Executive agencies
Defence, Equipment & Support Bespoke Trading Entity (DE&S) 2	✘
UK Hydrographic Office	✘
Defence Electronics Components Agency	✘
Defence Science & Technology Laboratory	✘
Other MOD Civilian Areas
Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel	✘
Locally Engaged Civilians	✘
Grades
Broader Banded Non-Industrial Grades	✔
Industrial Grades	✘
Analogue Grades	✘
Ministry of Defence Police	✘
Ministry of Defence Fire Service	✘
Ministry of Defence NHS	✘
Ministry of Defence Teachers	✘
Civilian Medical Practitioners	✘
Civilian Dental Practitioners	✘
Senior Civil Servants (those paid above Band B1)	✘
Other Groups
Personnel on Zero Pay 3	✘
Personnel with missing or no salary data	✘

¹ Defence Nuclear Organisation (DNO) also includes personnel in the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA). While DNO is considered MOD Main, SDA is considered a Trading Fund and Executive Agency. Due to data issues splitting out these personnel, some SDA personnel may be included.

² MOD Main no longer includes Defence, Equipment and Support (DE&S) since 1 July 2015 and it has been reported as a bespoke trading entity ever since. Due to the size and makeup of DE&S, its removal from MOD Main may have an impact on several variables which means that direct comparison with outputs prior to 2015 are not consistent.

³ Personnel on Zero Pay not being paid by the MOD as at 1 October 2021, are excluded from the salary analysis, but are included within the lower grade population in the promotion analysis; due to the fact that someone can be promoted from Zero Pay into a paid position.

Further exclusions in addition to those listed above are made for the promotions analysis:

• Personnel not permanently promoted between 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021
• Personnel promoted into or between Senior Civil Service grades
• Other personnel whose pay falls outside the pay band scales, such as Apprentices and some Retained grades; although those on broader banded pay scales, such as Fast Streamers are included
• Personnel who move from a Trading Fund / Executive agency post into a MOD Main post

5.5 Data Quality and Management

This report follows the MOD’s Official Statistics quality management process which consists of 3 elements:

• Regularly monitoring and assessing quality risk via an annual assessment.

• Providing a mechanism for reporting and reviewing revisions/corrections to Official Statistics.

• Ensuring Background Quality Reports (BQRs) are publishing alongside reports and are updated regularly.

As this is not an Official Statistic, the BQR element of the list above has been integrated here in the Background Notes section.

Length of service in substantive grade was calculated by counting the number of months each staff member has been in their current substantive grade as at 1 October 2021, going back to 1 January 2000 which is the earliest date month-by-month data is available. Due to data quality issues with LOS in substantive grade, this is the best method available.

The limitations of the calculation are that it ignores any temporary promotions which may not align some staff member’s current grade with their current pay rate, underestimating salary comparisons. Additionally, staff that have been on the same grade since 1 January 2000 maybe have underestimated LOS in substantive grade since as counting begins from the 1 January 2000 and not earlier.

5.6 Data Validation

Data validation is conducted as part of the acceptance of the monthly extract prior to it being made available to the production team through the civilian SQL data base. More detailed validation is then undertaken on the breakdowns of individual fields (including ethnicity, gender, TLB, grade), and comparisons between the current and previous month’s figures. Unusual variations are identified and investigated to identify explanations/reasons for the changes. In instances where our investigations detect data issues, we act with DBS to correct the data.

5.7 Timelines, Coherence and Comparability

Analysis Civilian aim to finalise the Equal Pay Audit at the start of next year’s financial year i.e. April.

Data in this report is compiled on the date when the pay award for that year is fully implemented (usually as at 1 October). Due to this, this report’s finalisation date is heavily dependent on when the pay award is fully implemented which may not necessarily be as at 1 October of the respective year. Therefore, a risk may arise on following the timeline of this report if a late pay award is implemented, as was the case in 2019’s Equal Pay Audit where data for personnel as at 1 April 2020 was used.

Data in this report is fully comparable with data for 2016, 2017 and 2018 in terms of MOD Main departments. There was a severe Pay Award delay in the 2019 report, so the data in this report is not fully comparable with the 2019 Equal Pay Audit. However, for all years after 2019 to current, reports are comparable.

5.8 Confidentiality and Security

Confidentiality

All published outputs are counts of individuals in particular groupings. Disclosure control is applied to statistical or numeric information to safeguard the confidentiality of individuals. ‘Disclosure control’ refers to the efforts made to reduce the risk of disclosure, such as applying statistical methods to protect ‘Personally Identifiable Information’ (PII) in aggregate data tables. These safeguards can take many forms (for example, data suppression, rounding, recoding etc.).

Security

All staff involved in the production process have signed the Data Protection Act; all MOD, Civil Service and data protection regulations are adhered to. These data are stored, accessed, and analysed using the MOD’s restricted network and IT systems, and the access to raw data is password protected.

Defence Statistics Policies.

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