Strategic Equality Plan Annual Report 2024-2025
Equality in Employment Information
The Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011 gives the Council a duty to publish information about our employment practices and how it is meeting its employment objectives in its Strategic Equality Action Plan, providing information for the wider public and stakeholders. Employment information reports are based on financial years, and the latest report details our workforce on 31 March 2024, the ‘snapshot’ date. The report details the characteristics of the Authority’s workforce by protected characteristic. We are required to publish the report by 31st March of the following year. The Report has now been set up to run directly from our iTrent HR system with limited manual intervention which is a positive step forward.
Equality in Employment 2023-24 Report
Employment monitoring for 2023-24 paints a similar picture to previous years albeit that many of the differentials seen in previous years, including the gender pay gap are closing
Equality in Employment Report 2023-24 themes
Male to female ratio
Appears to be significantly skewed toward females compared to the overall Pembrokeshire population.
Senior Workers (Grade 11-Chief Officer)
Proportional under-representation of female leaders in the workforce when compared to the workforce make-up. Male (3.27%) versus female (1.13%).
Older versus younger workers
More likely to employ older workers than younger, which is disproportionate to the local demographic.
Male versus female applicants
PCC attracts over twice as many female applicants than male applicants. This could be due to many factors including: service areas such as Education and Social Services tend to attract more female applicants, societal norms and stereotypes can influence career choices, and certain roles within PCC may traditionally be associated with one gender, which might affect who applies. Flexible work arrangements could be particularly appealing to females and PCC’s recruitment strategies could unintentionally target more female candidates, e.g. engagement with specific social media networks could lead to a higher female applicant pool.
Ethnicity
PCC attracts more white UK applicants (82.49%), but as a percentage, this is lower than the local demographic of 97.6%. Several factors could contribute to this: PCC’s recruitment assets may not reach all segments of the local population equally. Targeted outreach may help bridge any gap. If certain groups perceive PCC as less inclusive or less relevant to their needs, they may be less likely to apply. Some communities may prioritise other career paths or have different views on working in the public sector.
To foster diversity, PCC provides Equality, Diversity & Inclusion training, which supports an inclusive environment.
Equality in Employment 2024-25 Report
The 2024-25 report is being developed and is scheduled for inclusion at the March 2026 Cabinet to meet reporting requirements. The report will be considered by the Strategic Equality Action Plan group following the Cabinet meeting.
Gender Pay Gap
The Welsh Government aims to eliminate the pay gap for gender by 2050. Progress is monitored through required reporting for any employer with 250 or more employees on a specific date each year (the ‘snapshot date’) who must report their gender pay gap data.
The Pembrokeshire Gender Pay Gap Report (opens in a new tab) provides information on the pay for men and women.
- In 2024-25 based on median hourly pay, women in the Council earnt the same as men showing an improvement when compared with 2023-24, when women in the Council earned 97p for every £1 that men earned. Medians indicate what the ‘typical’ situation is and are not distorted by very high or low hourly pay, or bonuses. However, not all gender pay gap issues will be picked up including where gender pay gap issues are most pronounced in the lowest paid or highest paid employees.
- In 2024-25 women’s mean (average) hourly pay was 0.8% lower than men’s, again an improvement when compared to 2023-24, when women’s mean (average) hourly pay was 1.7% lower than men’s. Mean averages give a good overall indication of the gender pay gap, though very high or low hourly pay can ‘dominate’ and distort the figure.
- In 2024-25, women made up 62.6% of employees in the highest paid quarter an increase compared to 2023-24 when 60.7% of employees were in the highest paid quarter.
- In 2024-25, women made up 60.1% of employees in the lowest paid quarter a 1% decrease compared to 2023-24 when 61.1% of employees in the lowest paid quarter.