Minutes:
Councillor Hilton Spratt, Leader of the Opposition, asked the Leader of the Council the following question:
“Can the Leader of the Council tell us what the percentage gender pay gap is and what he is doing to tackle it?”
Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the Council, responded by saying that this was a very important issue. The difference between the average pay compared to men and women at the City of Lincoln Council was currently 10.3%. Councillor Metcalfe explained that there were many reasons why gender pay gaps existed in organisations such as structural circumstances, for example, that were not always in the gift of the employer to influence.
Councillor Metcalfe was very keen to ensure that nothing about the Council’s employment processes worsened the Council’s current gender pay gap. All Human Resources policies and procedures in relation to recruitment had been reviewed and monitored in this respect. A lot of training also took place with staff engaging in the recruitment process, with the Human Resources Team ensuring that great care was taken regarding the advertisement of vacancies in order that they were gender neutral, for example. A number of case studies were also in the process of being investigated to see whether any improvements to future employment procedures could be made.
Councillor Metcalfe reminded members that the Council was good as an employer and offered a range of support and benefits, such as flexible working to cater for things such as childcare which could often negatively impact a person’s career prospects.
Councillor Metcalfe confirmed that the Council was on the case in respect of the gender pay gap and that the Council would continue to work at reducing the it.
Councillor Hilton Spratt asked the following supplementary question:
“Further to the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in 1970 by the then Labour Government, would the Leader agree that a gender pay gap such as this in a Labour-run local authority was quite extraordinary?”
Councillor Metcalfe made the point that the gender pay gap was nothing to do with equal pay. Equal pay meant that an employer must pay an equal amount for equal work with the gender pay gap being something completely different. He emphasised that the City of Lincoln Council was fully compliant with the requirements of the Equal Pay Act.
One of the explanations as to why organisations experienced a gender pay gap was occupational segregation, with a concentration of women workers in positions of relatively low paid work. He referred to the ‘five c’s’, as follows, which were occupations overwhelmingly occupied by women nationally:
· caring;
· catering;
· cashiering;
· clerical;
· childcare.
In terms of the City of Lincoln Council a good proportion of women were in high paid jobs, however, there were also lots of women in low paid jobs on the Council’s establishment. In addressing why so many women were in low paid jobs, Councillor Metcalfe surmised that the main reason was biological in that a lot of mothers’ careers were interrupted by maternity leave and childcare, together with a segregation of roles in the household. He concluded that these things often held women back.