Gender pay gap report

From April 2017, under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017, employers with 250 or more employees are required to publish various figures to demonstrate how large the pay gap is between their male and female employees. As a Public Sector organisation this demonstrates our compliance under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

At Wyre Forest, we are proud to say that all employees are treated equally and that we are committed to providing equal opportunities and treatment for everybody that works here. We believe that our diverse workforce is one of our greatest strengths and a key part of our success.

We are pleased to report that we continue to have a negative gender pay gap in favour of women, however, this has reduced by almost half since the previous figures we submitted. This is a result of our Pay and Grading review (July 2021) that continues to work towards a small gender pay gap within our organisation.

Ian Miller, Chief Executive

Background

All public sector employers are required to publish information about gender pay gaps by 31 March 2026. This information is based on a snapshot date of pay on 31 March 2025.

What are we required to report on?

Mean gender pay gap : The difference between the mean hourly rate of pay of male full-pay relevant employees and that of female full pay relevant employees
Median gender pay gap : The difference between the median hourly rate of pay of male full pay relevant employees and that of female full pay relevant employees
Mean bonus gap : The difference between the mean bonus paid to male relevant employees and that paid to female relevant employees
Median bonus gap : The difference between the median bonus paid to male relevant employees and that paid to female relevant employees
Bonus proportions : The proportions of male and female relevant employees who were paid bonus pay during the relevant period
Quartile pay bands : The proportions of male and female full pay relevant employees in the lower, lower middle, upper middle and upper quartile pay bands

The analysis is based on head count as opposed to full time equivalent numbers.

The gender pay gap and equal pay

The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. The gender pay gap is a measure of any disparity in pay between the average earnings of men and women, irrespective of role or seniority. Equal pay concerns pay differences between men and women employees who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. Wyre Forest District Council use a nationally recognised job evaluation system and meet the obligations under the Equality Act 2010 for equal pay.

The overall gender pay gap is defined as the difference between the median (actual midpoint) or mean (average) basic annual earnings of men and women expressed as a percentage of the median or mean basic annual earnings of men.

Gender pay calculation

Gender pay gap = (Median pay men – Median pay women x100) / Median pay men

A positive pay gap indicates that men are paid more than women; a negative pay gap indicates that women are paid more than men.

Gender pay gap report 2025

Local Context

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2025 the workforce comprised of:

Women 52.57%

Men 47.43%

The Corporate Leadership Team

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2025, the make-up of the Corporate Leadership Team was:

Women 57%

Men 43%

Mandatory Gender Pay Analysis

Mean as at 31 March 2025

Gender Pay Gap -7.52%

Median as at 31 March 2025

Gender Pay Gap -11.19%

The above illustrates that women are paid more than men at Wyre Forest District Council. This reflects the make-up of the workforce and the membership of the Corporate Leadership and Senior Management Teams.

Proportion of men and women receiving bonuses

Employees at Wyre Forest District Council receive a long service award once they complete 20 years’ service. Employees who reach 20 years’ service receive a one-off payment of £400.

The mean and median bonus pay gap is 0%.

The proportion of men and women in receipt of bonus pay between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2025 was 80% women and 20% men.

Proportion of Men and Women in each quartile of the pay structure

Quartile	Female	Male	Comments
Lower	28.57%	71.43%	This data reflects the workforce composition rather than pay inequalities. The majority of front line operative roles fall within this quartile and the vast majority are held by the male workforce
Lower middle	46.99%	53.01%	None
Upper Middle	73.49%	26.51%	None
Upper	54.22%	45.78%	None

The figures set out in this report have been calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Gender pay gap report 2024

Local Context

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2024 the workforce comprised of:

Women 52.52%

Men 47.48%

The Corporate Leadership Team

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2024 the make-up of the Corporate Leadership Team was:

Women 57%

Men 43%

Mandatory Gender Pay Analysis

Mean as at 31 March 2024

Gender Pay Gap -7.19%

Median as at 31 March 2024

Gender Pay Gap -8.62%

Proportion of men and women receiving bonuses

Employees at Wyre Forest District Council receive a long service award once they complete 20 years’ service. Employees who reach 20 years’ service receive a one-off payment of £400.

The mean and median bonus pay gap is 0%.

The proportion of men and women in receipt of bonus pay between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 was 27.8% women and 72.2% men.

Proportion of Men and Women in each quartile of the pay structure

Quartile	Female	Male	Comments
Lower	30.49%	69.51%	This data reflects the workforce composition rather than pay inequalities. The majority of front line operative roles fall within this quartile and the vast majority are held by the male workforce
Lower middle	51.85%	48.15%	None
Upper Middle	71.60%	28.40%	None
Upper	58.54%	41.46%	None

The figures set out in this report have been calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Gender pay gap report 2023

Local context

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2023 the workforce comprised of:

Women: 51.08%
Men: 48.92%

The Corporate Leadership Team

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2023 the make-up of the Corporate Leadership Team was:

Women: 57%
Men: 43%

Mandatory Gender Pay analysis

Mean as at 31 March 2023

Gender pay gap -7.08%

Median as at 31 March 2023

Gender pay gap - 6.00%

The above illustrates that women are paid more than men at Wyre Forest District Council. This reflects the make-up of the workforce and the membership of the Corporate Leadership and Senior Management Teams.

Proportion of men and women receiving bonuses

Employees at Wyre Forest District Council receive a long service award once they complete 20 years’ service. Employees who reach 20 years’ service receive a one-off payment of £400.

Under the new scheme, the mean and median bonus pay gap is 0%.

The proportion of men and women in receipt of bonus pay between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 was 50% women and 50% men.

Proportion of men and women in each quartile of the pay structure

Quartile	Male	Female
Lower*	72.84%	27.16%
Lower middle	48.15%	51.85%
Upper Middle	32.93%	67.07%
Upper	41.98%	58.02%

*This data reflects the workforce composition rather than pay inequalities. The majority of front-line operative roles fall within this quartile and the vast majority are held by the male workforce.

The figures set out in this report have been calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Gender pay gap report 2022

Local context

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2022 the workforce comprised of:

Women: 52%
Men: 48%

The Corporate Leadership Team

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2022 the make-up of the Corporate Leadership Team was:

Women: 57%
Men: 43%

Senior management team

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2022 the Senior Management Team comprised of:

Women: 67%
Men: 33%

Mandatory Gender Pay analysis

Mean as at 31 March 2022

Gender pay gap - 5.96%

Median as at 31 March 2021

Gender pay gap - 6.51%

Proportion of men and women receiving bonuses

Employees at Wyre Forest District Council receive a long service award once they complete 20 years’ service. Previously, this was an increase in pay of half an increment and was paid monthly. This scheme was phased out on 31 March 2021. Employees who reach 20 years’ service now receive a one-off payment of £400.

Under the new scheme, the mean and median bonus pay gap is 0%.

The proportion of men and women in receipt of bonus pay (including both schemes) between 1st April 2021 and 31st March 2022 was 75% women and 25% men.

Proportion of men and women in each quartile of the pay structure

Quartile	Male	Female
Lower*	63.86%	36.14%
Lower middle	52.44%	47.56%
Upper Middle	33.73%	66.27%
Upper	43.37%	56.63%

*This data reflects the workforce composition rather than pay inequalities. The majority of front-line operative roles fall within this quartile and the vast majority are held by the male workforce.

The figures set out in this report have been calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Gender pay gap report 2021

Local context

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2021 the workforce comprised of:

Women: 51%

Men: 49%

The Corporate Leadership Team

Women: 50%

Men: 50%

WF20 - Senior management team

Women: 65%

Men: 35%

Mandatory Gender Pay Analysis

Mean as at 31 March 2021

Gender pay gap -9.87%

Median as at 31 March 2021

Gender pay gap -14.17%

Proportion of Men and Women receiving bonuses

Employees at Wyre Forest District Council receive a long service award once they complete 20 years’ service. Previously, this was an increase in pay of half an increment and was paid monthly. This scheme will be phased out by 31 March 2021. Going forward, employees who reach 20 years’ service will receive a one-off payment of £400.00.

Under the old scheme, there is a mean bonus pay gap of -1.28% and a median of 0.78%.

Under the new scheme, the mean and median bonus pay gap is 0%.

The proportion of men and women in receipt of bonus pay (including both schemes) between 1st April 2020 and 31st March 2021 was 20.24% women and 10.65% men.

Employees at Wyre Forest District Council also received a one-off non-consolidated COVID response acknowledgement payment of £125.00 in March 2021. To qualify for the payment, employees had to have been continuously employed and undertook regular work between 26 March 2020 and 31 December 2020. It should be noted that this data is prior to the snapshot date of 31 March and excludes chief and deputy chief officers.

The proportion of men and women in receipt of this payment was 91.67% women and 88.76% men.

Proportion of Men and Women in each quartile of the pay structure

Quartile	Male	Female
Lower*	76.19%	23.81%
Lower middle	51.19%	48.81%
Upper Middle	32.14%	67.86%
Upper	41.18%	58.82%

*This data reflects the workforce composition rather than pay inequalities. The majority of front line operative roles fall within this quartile and the vast majority are held by the male workforce.

The figures set out in this report have been calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Gender pay gap report 2020

Local context

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2020 the workforce comprised of:

Women: 52%

Men: 48%

The Corporate Leadership Team

Women: 60%

Men: 40%

WF20 - Senior management team

Women: 69%

Men: 31%

Mandatory Gender Pay Analysis

Mean as at 31 March 2020

Gender pay gap -10.66%

Median as at 31 March 2020

Gender pay gap -14.64%

Proportion of Men and Women receiving bonuses

Employees at Wyre Forest District Council receive a long service award once they complete 20 years’ service. Previously, this was an increase in pay of half an increment and was paid monthly. This scheme will be phased out by 31st March 2021. Going forward, employees who reach 20 years’ service receive a one-off payment of £400.

Under the old scheme, there is a mean bonus pay gap of -3.98% and a median of 1.57%.

Under the new scheme, the mean and median bonus pay gap is 0%.

The proportion of men and women in receipt of bonus pay (including both schemes) between 1st April and 31st March 2020 was 20.11% women and 12.12% men.

Proportion of Men and Women in each quartile of the pay structure

Quartile	Male	Female	Comments
Lower	75.29%	24.71%	This data reflects the workforce composition rather than pay inequalities. The majority of front line operative roles fall within this quartile and the vast majority are held by the male workforce
Lower middle	50.59%	49.41%
Upper Middle	28.57%	71.43%
Upper	40%	60%

The figures set out in this report have been calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Gender pay gap action plan

Reviewed March 2021

Area	Action	Responsible Officer	Timeline
Recruitment	All suitable job adverts to be advertised as flexible by default All adverts to include; “we are an equal opportunity employer” All managers responsible for recruitment to complete e-learning modules for equality and diversity and unconscious bias	Principal HR Advisor Managers	Immediate effect By: 31/12/2019
Selection	Interview panel to consist of a gender mix (where possible)	Managers	Immediate effect
Training and development	Ensure appropriate equality of opportunity for all development opportunities	Managers	Immediate effect
Corporate diversity and inclusion	Regular updates on Diversity and Inclusion Metrics to the Corporate Leadership Team Communicate (internally) named corporate lead for Diversity and Inclusion	Principal HR Advisor CLT	Annual By: 31/10/2019

Gender pay gap report 2019

Local context

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2019 the workforce comprised of:

Women: 52%
Men: 48%

The Corporate Leadership Team

Women: 60%
Men: 40%

WF20 - Senior management team

Women: 62%
Men: 38%

Mandatory Gender Pay Analysis

Mean as at 31 March 2019

Gender pay gap -11.91%

Median as at 31 March 2019

Gender pay gap -13.86%

Proportion of Men and Women receiving bonuses

Wyre Forest District Council does not operate any performance related pay or bonus schemes and therefore has no bonus gender pay gap.
Bonus Gap – 0%

Proportion of Men and Women in each quartile of the pay structure

Quartile	Male	Female	Comments
Lower	78%	22%	This data reflects the workforce composition rather than pay inequalities. The majority of front line operative roles fall within this quartile and the vast majority are held by the male workforce
Lower middle	45%	55%	No comment
Upper Middle	31%	69%	No comment
Upper	39%	61%	No comment

The figures set out in this report have been calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Gender pay gap action plan

Area	Action	Responsible Officer	Timeline
Recruitment	All suitable job adverts to be advertised as flexible by default All adverts to include; “we are an equal opportunity employer” All managers responsible for recruitment to complete e-learning modules for equality and diversity and unconscious bias	Principal HR Advisor Managers	Immediate effect By: 31/12/2019
Selection	Interview panel to consist of a gender mix (where possible)	Managers	Immediate effect
Training and development	Ensure appropriate equality of opportunity for all development opportunities	Managers	Immediate effect
Corporate diversity and inclusion	Regular updates on Diversity and Inclusion Metrics to the Corporate Leadership Team Communicate (internally) named corporate lead for Diversity and Inclusion	Principal HR Advisor CLT	Annual By: 31/10/2019

Gender pay gap report 2018

Local context

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2018 the workforce comprised of:

Women: 53%
Men: 47%

The Corporate Leadership Team

Women: 60%
Men: 40%

WF20 - Senior management team

Women: 71%
Men: 29%

Mandatory Gender Pay Analysis

Mean as at 31 March 2018

Gender pay gap -9.38%

Median as at 31 March 2018

Gender pay gap -14.04%

Proportion of Men and Women receiving bonuses

Wyre Forest District Council does not operate any performance related pay or bonus schemes and therefore has no bonus gender pay gap.
Bonus Gap – 0%

Proportion of Men and Women in each quartile of the pay structure

Quartile	Male	Female	Comments
Lower	71%	29%	This data reflects the workforce composition rather than pay inequalities. The majority of front line operative roles fall within this quartile and the vast majority are held by the male workforce
Lower middle	49%	51%	No comment
Upper Middle	30%	70%	No comment
Upper	38%	62%	No comment

The figures set out in this report have been calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Gender pay gap report 2017

Local context

As at the snapshot date of 31 March 2017 the workforce comprised of:

Women: 52%
Men: 48%

The Corporate Leadership Team

Women: 60%
Men: 40%

WF20 - Senior management team

Women: 71%
Men: 29%

Mandatory Gender Pay Analysis

Mean as at 31 March 2017

Gender pay gap -10.28%

Median as at 31 March 2017

Gender pay gap -12.48%

Proportion of Men and Women receiving bonuses

Wyre Forest District Council does not operate any performance related pay or bonus schemes and therefore has no bonus gender pay gap.
Bonus Gap – 0%

Proportion of Men and Women in each quartile of the pay structure

Quartile	Male	Female	Comments
Lower	65%	35%	This data reflects the workforce composition rather than pay inequalities. The majority of front line operative roles fall within this quartile and the vast majority are held by the male workforce
Lower middle	58%	42%	No comment
Upper Middle	27%	73%	No comment
Upper	42%	58%	No comment

The figures set out in this report have been calculated using the standard methodologies used in the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

Action plan to reduce gender pay gap and support employees experiencing menopause 2026/27

We are pleased to report that we continue to have a negative gender pay gap in favour of women, but we continue to work towards a small gender pay gap within our organisation.

Just over 50% of our workforce is female so we are keen to build on the existing support in place for those experiencing menopause.

Title	Description	Due Date	Latest Note Date	Latest Note
Make job descriptions inclusive	After reviewing our latest gender pay data, we have identified that roles within our upper middle quartile are predominantly filled by women. When analysing our recruitment data for the last 2 years, those same roles have applications that are almost 70% female compared to just over 30% male. We therefore intend to utilise AI and ATS functionality to ensure our job adverts and role profiles do not contain language or phrases that would be considered to have gender bias in the hope that will create a more equal ratio of applicants.	31-Mar-2027
Train managers to support employees experiencing menopause	Just over 50% of our workforce are female, and 64.09% of those are over the age of 45 with the average age being 47. To build on the current support that is in place for those experiencing menopause, we will offer training to mangers so they can better understand how they can support their staff.	31-Mar-2027

Title

Description

Due Date

Latest Note Date

Latest Note

Make job descriptions inclusive

After reviewing our latest gender pay data, we have identified that roles within our upper middle quartile are predominantly filled by women. When analysing our recruitment data for the last 2 years, those same roles have applications that are almost 70% female compared to just over 30% male.

We therefore intend to utilise AI and ATS functionality to ensure our job adverts and role profiles do not contain language or phrases that would be considered to have gender bias in the hope that will create a more equal ratio of applicants.

31-Mar-2027

Train managers to support employees experiencing menopause

Just over 50% of our workforce are female, and 64.09% of those are over the age of 45 with the average age being 47. To build on the current support that is in place for those experiencing menopause, we will offer training to mangers so they can better understand how they can support their staff.

31-Mar-2027

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