Pay Gaps
Pay Gaps Narrative
Reporting Year - 2024-2025
This report considers the Gender Pay Gap and the Ethnicity Pay Gap within North Wales Police. The Gender and Ethnicity Pay gaps are different to Equal Pay. The key differences are:
- Equal Pay deals with pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value
- Gender Pay Gap shows the difference in the average pay between men and women.
- Ethnicity Pay Gap shows the difference in the average pay between Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic employees, and White employees.
The figures below were taken from data captured at the "snapshot date" of 31st March 2024 for the 2024-2025 reporting year. Public bodies are required to publish their gender pay gap data via the Gender Pay Gap Service prior to the deadline of 30th March 2025.
For the purposes of reporting, the mean figure is calculated by adding together all the numbers in a set and then dividing the sum by the total count of numbers. The median is calculated by arranging each number in order by size; the middle number is the median.
The Gender Pay Gap
The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 places certain duties on public sector organisations with 250 or more employees to report on their Gender Pay Gap.
Gender Pay reporting is not a review of equal pay for equal work; it instead compares hourly rates of pay and any bonuses staff may receive by gender, seeking to expose any imbalance. Following further analysis of the results we can draw some conclusions about why the current pay gap exists. The analysis and findings allow North Wales Police (NWP) to understand where to direct positive action interventions to close the gender pay gap in future years.
The mean and median gender pay gap
Women’s hourly rate is:
|
|
2024-2025 |
2023-2024 |
2022-2023 |
2021-2022 |
2020-2021 |
|
Mean |
8.4% lower than men’s |
8.8% lower than men’s |
9.3% lower than men’s |
8.4% lower than men’s |
11.0% lower than men’s |
|
Median |
15.5% lower than men’s |
16.2% lower than men’s |
16.6% lower than men’s |
16.6% lower than men’s |
17.3% lower than men’s |
The mean and median gender bonus pay gap
Women’s bonus pay is:
|
|
2024-2025 |
2023-2024 |
2022-2023 |
2021-2022 |
2020-2021 |
|
Mean |
54.0% lower than men’s |
25.8% lower than men’s |
81.3% lower than men’s |
69.6% lower than men’s |
4.9% lower than men’s |
|
Median |
75.0% lower than men’s |
0.0% lower than men’s |
93.2% lower than men’s |
75.0% lower than men’s |
-112.5% lower than men’s |
Proportion of male and female employees receiving a bonus payment
|
|
2024-2025 |
2023-2024 |
2022-2023 |
2021-2022 |
2020-2021 |
|
Male |
3.6% |
1.8% |
0.88% |
0.87% |
1.94% |
|
Female |
3.1% |
0.6% |
1.17% |
0.45% |
1.22% |
Proportion of male and female employees in each salary quartile band
|
|
Lower quartile |
Lower middle quartile |
Upper middle quartile |
Upper quartile |
|
Male |
41.9% |
41.6% |
53.0% |
61.6% |
|
Female |
58.1% |
58.4% |
47.0% |
38.4% |
Understanding the gender pay gap
In considering the Gender Pay Gap of North Wales Police it is useful to understand the following factors, that when combined have an overall effect of exacerbating any pay disparity:
- In the Police Service levels of pay for police officers and police staff are determined nationally by separate pay bodies.
- On average the pay points for police officers are at a higher rate than that of police staff.
- NWP has more police officers (54.4%) than police staff (45.6%).
- NWP has more male police officers (58.6%) than female police officers (41.4%).
- NWP has more female police staff (62.8%) than male police staff (37.2%).
It is therefore useful to separate Police Officers and Police Staff and report separately on their respective pay gaps:
The mean and median gender pay gap for Police Officers
Women’s hourly rate is:
|
|
2024-2025 |
2023-2024 |
2022-2023 |
2021-2022 |
2020-2021 |
|
Mean |
4.6% lower than men’s |
5.5% lower than men’s |
6.1% lower than men’s |
6.2% lower than men’s |
8.6% lower than men’s |
|
Median |
0.0% lower than men’s |
0.0% lower than men’s |
0.0% lower than men’s |
0.0% lower than men’s |
0.0% lower than men’s |
The mean and median gender pay gap for Police Staff
Women’s hourly rate is:
|
|
2024-2025 |
2023-2024 |
2022-2023 |
2021-2022 |
2020-2021 |
|
Mean |
8.3% lower than men’s |
7.0% lower than men’s |
6.7% lower than men’s |
5.8% lower than men’s |
8.3% lower than men’s |
|
Median |
6.4% lower than men’s |
4.6% lower than men’s |
6.2% lower than men’s |
5.6% lower than men’s |
6.6% lower than men’s |
For many years North Wales Police has recognised that it can do more to tackle under-representation in the police service. Attracting more women to join as police officers and improving progression for both female police officers and female police staff continues to be a key priority within our Workforce Representation Strategy.
We continue to encourage more women to join as police officers, and this remains a key priority. This has led to a variety of initiatives aimed at increasing representation of women and applicants from across all underrepresented groups.
A decrease in the Gender Pay Gap
This year’s report shows that overall, the NWP gender pay gap has decreased, from 8.8% to 8.4%. Since we began reporting our figures in 2018 the mean pay gap figure has decreased each year, except for 2022-2023, where we saw a slight rise. We considered that this rise was due several factors that included:
- Larger officer recruiting numbers than usual.
- A 2.6% increase in the percentage of female officers in the lower pay quartile.
- An overall increase of 1.5% in the proportion of female police staff.
Since then, recruitment figures have not been as high, and the overall workforce pay gap figures have returned to a downward trend.
|
2024-2025 |
2023-2024 |
2022-2023 |
2021-2022 |
2020-2021 |
2019-2020 |
2018-2019 |
2017-2018 |
|
8.4% |
8.8% |
9.3% |
8.4% |
11.0% |
11.4% |
12.9% |
14.7% |
Bonus Payments
The Chief Constable may award bonuses for occasional work of an ‘outstandingly demanding,’ ‘unpleasant’ or of an ‘important’ nature. These bonus payments are taxable and non-pensionable and can be allocated at the discretion of the Service Lead or Departmental Head. Awards over £50 can be allocated to individuals that meet the criteria, and these payments are processed by an Awards Panel.
This reporting year 108 individuals received bonus payments, compared with 36 in 2023-2024, 29 in 2022-2023, 19 in 2021-2022, 44 in 2020-2021.
Bonus Pay for women is:
|
|
2024-2025 (108) |
2023-2024 (36) |
2022-2023 (29) |
2021-2022 (19) |
2020-2021 (44) |
|
Mean |
54.0% lower than males |
25.8% lower than males |
81.3% lower than males |
69.6% lower than males |
4.9% lower than males |
|
Median |
75.0% lower than males |
0.0% lower than males |
90.0% lower than males |
75.0% lower than males |
-112.5% lower than males |
|
Female |
3.6% received a bonus |
0.6% received a bonus |
1.2% received a bonus |
0.5% received a bonus |
1.2% received a bonus |
|
Male |
3.1% received a bonus |
1.8% received a bonus |
0.8% received a bonus |
0.9% received a bonus |
1.9% received a bonus |
The Ethnicity Pay Gap
The Ethnicity Pay Gap, is different to equal pay, it shows the difference in the average hourly rate of pay between Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic employees, and White employees. In considering the Ethnicity Pay Gap of North Wales Police it is useful to understand the following factors, that when combined have an overall effect of exacerbating any pay disparity:
- The proportion of the workforce that identifies as Black, Asian or from another Minority Ethnic background (B.A.M.E.) makes up 1.02% of the workforce (up from 0.99%).
- Of those that identify as B.A.M.E. 61.3% are Police Officers and 38.7% are Police Staff.
- On average, the pay points for police officers are at a higher rate than that of police staff.
The figures below were taken from data captured at the "snapshot date" of 31st March 2024 for the 2024-2025 reporting year.
The mean and median Ethnicity Pay Gap (whole workforce)
The mean pay gap for 2024-25 shows that B.A.M.E. employees have a -5.1% pay gap, compared with -3.5% in 2023-2024. The median pay gap for 2024-25 shows that B.A.M.E. employees have a -9.2% pay gap, compared with -10.5% in 2023-2024. A negative pay gap figure indicates no gap and that, B.A.M.E. employees have a higher hourly pay in comparison to White employees. However, as the below table demonstrates, we find that pay gaps do exist for certain ethnic groups. This is explained by the fact that minority ethnic groups are disproportionately underrepresented within the workforce.
Minority Ethnic Groups - compared with the relevant ‘White’ group (whole workforce):
|
|
2024-2025 |
2023-2024 |
||
|
Mean |
Median |
Mean |
Median |
|
|
Asian / Asian British |
-14.0% |
-13.6% |
-16.0% |
-15.9% |
|
Black / African / Caribbean / Black British |
9.0% |
4.0% |
12.0% |
11.2% |
|
Mixed / Multiple ethnic groups |
-7.0% |
-11.4% |
-4.0% |
-10.5% |
|
Other ethnic groups |
-10.0% |
-13.6% |
-10.0% |
-15.9% |
Ethnicity Bonus Pay Gap (whole workforce)
The bonus gap for the whole workforce in 2024-2025 shows that 0.0% of B.A.M.E. employees received a bonus (9.1% in 2023-2024), in comparison to 3.4% of White employees (1.1% in 2023-2024); the mean bonus pay gap is 24.3% (61.3% in 2023-2024) and the median bonus pay gap is 0.0% (58.3% in 2023-2024).
|
Hourly rate gaps: |
|
Bonus pay gaps: |
|
Proportion of group receiving a bonus: |
||||||
|
|
2024-2025 |
2023-2024 |
|
|
2024-2025 |
2023-2024 |
|
|
2024-2025 |
2023-2024 |
|
Mean |
-5.1% |
-3.5% |
|
Mean |
24.3% |
61.3% |
|
White |
3.4% |
1.1% |
|
Median |
-9.2% |
-10.5% |
|
Median |
0.0% |
58.3% |
|
B.A.M.E. |
0.0% |
9.1% |
Quartiles (whole workforce)
Comparing quartiles gives an indication of the distribution of different ethnic groups between pay bands. A slightly higher proportion of B.A.M.E. employees are positioned in the upper quartile for hourly pay 1.32%, than in the lower quartile of hourly pay 1.05%.
Proportion of White and B.A.M.E. employees in each salary quartile band (whole workforce):
|
|
Lower quartile |
Lower middle quartile |
Upper middle quartile |
Upper quartile |
|
White |
98.95% |
99.47% |
98.81% |
98.68% |
|
B.A.M.E. |
1.05% |
0.53% |
1.19% |
1.32% |
Compared with figures from 2023-2024:
|
|
Lower quartile |
Lower middle quartile |
Upper middle quartile |
Upper quartile |
|
White |
98.91% |
99.32% |
99.18% |
98.64% |
|
B.A.M.E. |
1.09% |
0.68% |
0.82% |
1.36% |
What NWP will continue to do to address the these Pay Gaps
NWP has a specific Health, Wellbeing, Recognition and Engagement Board that has been established to support activity in this area. The Board oversees a specific Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Action Plan.
The Plan focuses on six key themes:
- Branding, Communication and Transparency
- Recruitment, Promotion and Progression
- Supporting Females and Ethnic Minority Staff
- Bonus Payments, Honorarium and Overtime
- Workforce Data
- Flexible Working and Remote Working for Work Life Balance
Each theme has a set of actions that will continue our efforts to reduce any pay gaps and to advance gender and ethnicity equality more generally.
Conclusion
The Gender Pay Gap figures set out above were calculated using standard methodologies in line with the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. It can already be seen that the work undertaken in recent years has had a positive impact on the recruitment of female officers into NWP.
The report finds in comparison to last year, the mean gender pay gap relating to:
- All employees decreased from 8% to 8.4%
- Officers has reduced from 5% to 4.6%
- Staff has increased from 0% to 8.3%
In comparison to last year, the median gender pay gap relating to:
- All employees decreased from2% to 15.5%
- Officers has remained at 0%
- Staff has increased from 6% to 6.4%
The Ethnicity Pay Gap figures set out above are compiled following the guidance for employers provided by GOV.UK.
The report finds that, the mean ethnicity pay gap relating to:
- All employees changed from -3.5% to -5.1%
- Officers changed from -0.7% to -3.4%
- Staff changed from -3.4% to -5.8%
The median ethnicity pay gap relating to:
- All employees changed from -10.5% to -9.2%
- Officers remained at 0%
- Staff changed from -6.1% to -9.3%
Name: Seb Phillips
Position: Director of Finance and Resources, North Wales Police.
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