Women working for Broxtowe Council earn less than their male colleagues

Employers with 250 or more workers must publish figures on differences in pay between their employees through the Government's gender pay gap service.

The figures show the median hourly salary for women at Broxtowe Borough Council was 7.5% less than for men in the year to March this year – meaning women's pay has decreased in relative terms.

However, the council said it is committed to closing the gender pay gap.

A council spokesperson said: “We are pleased to be part of the 33% of councils with a female chief executive and to have 50% of females in chie f officer positions.

“Whilst the overall Median Gender Pay Gap is 7.5% for Broxtowe Borough Council, for full time employees the median is 0.00% and for part time employees the median is -4.3% in favour of female employees.

“The council has a smaller percentage of male employees taking advantage of part time working arrangements available and this impacts the overall statistics.”

Of the 307 councils that provided data for 2021-22, the average local authority paid women 3% less than their male colleagues – a small improvement from 3.3% the year before.

Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women's rights, said: “While it's an important step, Gender Pay Gap Reporting isn't a solution on its own.

“As these figures show, there is a gulf between the best-performing and the worst-performing local authorities.”

Across England and Wales, 12 councils reported a gender pay gap of more than 20% in 2021-22.

The Local Government Information Unit, a membership body, said councils are moving in the right direction on the gender pay gap – but added there is "more work to be done".

Jonathan Carr-West, the organisation's chief executive, said: “Just 22% of council leaders are women and only 33% of council chief executives.

“With women making up 78% of the workforce across local government, this can have knock on effects across service areas as well as impacting development opportunities for women at all levels,” he added.​