- Mayor publishes gender pay audit for Greater London Authority group
- Sadiq says ‘we cannot rest until pay disparity is a thing of the past’
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has welcomed the reduction of the gender pay gap that has taken place since he became Mayor, at City Hall, to nearly zero – but says there is still much more work to do to tackle pay disparity across the Greater London Authority (GLA) group.
Sadiq has published on the 1st October, gender pay data for City Hall and organisations which make up the GLA group (Transport for London, Metropolitan Police Service, Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, London Fire Brigade, London Legacy Development Corporation and Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation).
The majority of the organisations have made progress since Sadiq became Mayor, with a gender pay gap lower than both the London average of 16.7 per cent and the national average of 17.9 per cent. All with more than 250 employees have seen a reduction in their gender pay gap. At City Hall, the pay gap has continued to fall with a drop from 4.82 per cent in 2018 to 0.83 per cent.
As of March 31 2019, men and women working in full-time roles in the main GLA group organisations were paid on average the following:
- Greater London Authority
Male employees: £25.11 per hour, female employees: £24.90 per hour – a gender pay gap of 0.83 per cent (4.82 per cent in 2018). - Transport for London
Male employees: £29.18 per hour, female employees: £23.49 per hour – a gender pay gap of 19.5 per cent (21.5 per cent in 2018). - Metropolitan Police Service
Male employees: £22.03 per hour, female employees: £20.03 per hour – a gender pay gap of 9.06 per cent (9.71 per cent in 2018). - London Fire Brigade
Male employees: £16.79 per hour, female employees: £17.27 per hour – a gender pay gap of -2.84 per cent (-4.62 per cent in 2018).
The Mayor is also publishing figures for GLA group organisations with fewer than 250 employees, despite there being no legal requirement to do so. Given their size, the percentage gap will vary more from year to year as a slight change in the makeup of their workforces can have a significant effect on the figures. The figures for these organisations are as follows:
- Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime
Male employees: £27.53 per hour, female employees: £26.93 per hour – a gender pay gap of 2.18 per cent (-7.09 per cent in 2018). - London Legacy Development Corporation
Male employees: £31.92 per hour, female employees: £25.24 per hour – a gender pay gap of 20.9 per cent (17.6 per cent in 2018). - Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation
Male employees: £27.90 per hour, female employees: £27.14 per hour – a gender pay gap of 2.72 per cent (-17.72 per cent in 2018).
One of the reasons gender pay gaps exist in some organisations in the GLA group is that there are not enough women in senior roles – it is not because women are being paid less for doing the same job.
The Mayor wants to lead by example so all organisations have published Action Plans that set out what they are doing to ensure women have equal opportunities in the workplace.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I want London to be a city where everyone can fulfil their potential – regardless of their gender – and where all workplaces are a level playing field.
“I’ve made it a priority to address the gender pay gap which has existed unchallenged for too long and I’m proud that City Hall is leading by example, with the gap reduced to nearly zero.
“But we absolutely cannot rest until we have made pay disparity a thing of the past. It is shameful that in 2019 women remain under-represented at all levels of government and in leadership roles, and I’m urging employers of all sizes and sectors across the city to join me in tackling this injustice.”
Since first publishing gender pay gap data in 2016, City Hall introduced a number of measures to promote training and promotional opportunities for women, including creating and increasing flexible working options, launching unconscious bias learning and other family friendly benefits, such as support for parents of premature babies and those requiring neonatal care.
Earlier this year, Sadiq released his ‘Our Time: Supporting future leaders’ toolkit to help employers across the city to introduce his gender equality initiative in their workplaces. The Our Time programme launched in May 2018 across the GLA group, providing high-potential women with a more structured way of accessing the networks, contacts and opportunities often needed to gain leadership roles.
A wide range of public and private sector organisations have since committed to introducing it in their workplaces, including Waltham Forest Council, Lambeth Council, Croydon Council, Westfield and Crossrail. In September the second cohort of women began participating in the programme.
Deputy Mayor for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement, Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard, said: “I’m pleased that our efforts to monitor and ultimately eliminate the gender pay gap at City Hall are bearing fruit. It’s vital that we lead by example if we are to break down the barriers that exist in our city and ensure that everybody’s talents are recognised, valued and rewarded regardless of gender.
“That’s why the Mayor has made this such an important issue and introduced pioneering programmes like Our Time to change the working culture.”
Director of Diversity and Inclusion at TfL, Staynton Brown, said:“We are pleased to have narrowed the gender pay gap. We continue our efforts to make our organisation more representative of the city that we serve and we know that there is much work left to do to support women’s progression into higher paid roles and ensure we have the best talent in the industry, regardless of gender.
“We’ve made progress with more women now entering senior management roles in the last year, but it is essential that we continue to consider and improve our recruitment processes and undertake outreach programmes to bring about long term change and showcase the success of women in the transport industry to inspire others.”
Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society, Sam Smethers, said: “It is great to see progress at City Hall on closing the gender pay gap, but clearly it is a much more challenging picture across some of the other London bodies reporting into the Mayor.
“We look forward to seeing action plans in place across each of the bodies so that they can set out how they are going to close their pay gaps over time.”
At City Hall, seven of Sadiq’s ten Deputy Mayors are women and both the Metropolitan Police Service and the London Fire Brigade currently have their first women Commissioners, both appointed during Sadiq’s mayoralty.
Sadiq also appointed Amy Lamé as London’s first Night Czar, Mary Harpley as the GLA’s Chief Officer – the first woman to lead the organisation – and Lib Peck as head of his Violence Reduction Unit. Lyn Garner became Chief Executive Officer of LLDC in 2018.