As a public sector employer of more than 250 employees, we are required to report on our gender pay gap annually in line with The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017.
Staffordshire County Council is committed to ensuring a positive working environment for everyone and encouraging an inclusive workforce who enjoy their jobs.
At the county council there is no difference between the pay of men and women employed in the same or equivalent roles as we have a job evaluation mechanism which ensures equal pay. However, there is a difference between the average hourly pay of men and women when looking at our entire workforce. Since its introduction, we have undertaken significant analysis to understand our gender pay gap. We recognise there are a number of reasons for our pay gap, and it may take some years to see a significant change, but we are committed to taking ongoing steps to reduce it.
We believe fixing the pay gap is about more than just looking at the average pay of men and women. Therefore, we are taking a number of actions to improve Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) across the Council. This includes developing our ED&I strategy and making improvements in areas we know are effective in reducing the pay gap.
Published data – gender pay report / workforce equality data
The Council is required to publish both a gender pay report and workforce equality data each year. The combined report details our data and the steps we are taking to develop a more diverse and inclusive workforce and in turn, improve our gender pay gap.
Gender pay gap report
The deadline for this year's Gender Pay Gap Report publication is 30 March 2026, and salary data will be based on the snapshot date of 31 March 2025. As stipulated in the legislation we are required to publish the following gender pay data:
- Gender pay gap (mean and median values)
- Gender bonus gap (mean and median values)
- Proportion of men and women receiving bonuses
- Proportion of men and women in each quartile of the organisation’s pay structure.
Bonus data will include all bonus payments made in the 12 months up to and including the snapshot date of 31 March 2025. Full pay employees and casual workers in post at the snapshot date are included in the figures.
Gender pay gap – average hourly rates
Our mean gender pay gap has improved from last year, and now stands at 3.0%, while our median gender pay gap has continued to improve and now stands at 0.7%. Both measures remain significantly lower than national and public sector benchmarks
Figures from ONS (ASHE 2025):
- Overall 13.4% mean/12.8% median
- Public sector 12.3% mean/13.5% median
- Private sector 15.5% mean/17.5% median.
Gender pay gap - bonuses
We do not have a bonus pay gap at the county council as no employee receives a bonus.
Gender pay gap - workforce quartiles
76.7% of our workforce are female, but their distribution throughout the pay quartiles varies. The proportion of female staff in the lower-mid and upper-mid quartiles remains slightly higher than average, while the proportion in the upper quartile - one of the key drivers in reducing our pay gap - is slightly lower than average, but did increase substantially over the last year.
Lower quartile
24.4% Males, 75.6% Females in 2025 compared to 24.5% Males, 75.5% Females in 2024
Lower-mid quartile
20.9% Males, 79.1% Females in 2025 compared to 20.6% Males, 79.4% Females in 2024
Upper-mid quartile
23.0% Males, 77.0% Females in 2025 compared to 21.5% Males, 78.5% Females in 2024
Upper quartile
25.0% Males, 75.0% Females in 2025 compared to 27.1% Males, 72.9% Females in 2024
Understanding our pay gap
Since the first gender pay gap publication in March 2018 we have undertaken significant analysis to understand the reasons for our pay gap and have identified the following:
- Our pay gap fluctuates during the year and is susceptible to change.
- The make-up of our workforce impacts on reducing our pay gap.
- There is a greater proportion of women than men in part time lower paid jobs.
- We have very few part-time employees within managerial roles and within the upper pay quartile.
- There are gender imbalances across the organisation by job category.
- Historical societal factors which we cannot control, and which may take some years to see change.
Our equality, diversity and gender pay gap commitments
Staffordshire County Council are committed to taking steps to support greater equality, diversity & inclusion and in turn, reduce our gender pay gap. Actions include:
- Delivery of year four of our People Strategy, ensuring we provide an inclusive and accessible working environment.
- Improving our workforce data collection and creating a diversity workforce profile to identify trends, drive improvements and monitor our progress.
- Developing and implementing our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion objectives, policy, associated guidance and action plan
- Continuing to support and develop our employee voice and network groups to enable colleagues from different backgrounds to share their experiences of working at SCC and to help us make improvements to our working environment.
- Reviewing relevant People Policies with the principle that they will be inclusive, supportive and consider employee wellbeing.
- Continuing to improve our recruitment practices, technology and guidance and support to ensure they provide equality of opportunity and to become an employer of choice.
- Ensuring that managers have the skills to lead, inspire and develop their teams, and that everyone has the opportunity to grow.
- Developing our apprenticeship strategy and considering how we can support underrepresented groups within particular jobs.