Fire service pledges to wipe out gender pay gap

Shropshire's fire service says it wants to recruit more female staff as it seeks to wipe out its gender pay gap, a meeting has heard.

Shropshire and Wrekin Fire and Rescue Authority told councillors the service was doing much better on the issue than the nation as a whole, with a pay gap of just 11p per hour separating males from their female colleagues.

The service's gender pay gap was 0.61%, compared to a national gap of 12.8%, when the pay of all people was taken into account, the authority said.

It added the service was undergoing a "cultural transformation" in the way it handled recruitment, and had an action plan to prevent sexual harassment, and had revamped grievance procedures.

The service's pay gap had dropped 3% in one year after recruiting more senior female officers, Shropshire Council's strategy and resources committee was told.

Other moves include introducing "more favourable maternity payments" for on-call staff who make up the bulk of the male-dominated 626-strong workforce.

Figures show that last year there were 129 females and 497 males in the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service employee contracted posts, which includes operational, non-operational and brigade manager contracts.

Shropshire councillor Roger Evans said the developments were "to be congratulated".

Telford & Wrekin councillor Richard Overton added: "It is really good and I hope to get to a zero pay gap."

A background paper presented to the committee stated: "It is important to note that the gender pay gap is not about women being paid less than men for doing the same role.

"Equal pay deals with pay differences between men and women who carry out the same or similar jobs, or jobs of equal value."

The report goes on to say that the under-representation of female workers in fire and rescue services is well documented.

"With more males in the workforce, it is inevitable that differences in pay are exacerbated, this imbalance will continue until more women are in operational roles," the report states.

"Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service have seen an increase of women in senior level roles which has had a positive impact on the gender pay gap.

"Research shows that a more diverse and inclusive workforce helps organisations develop by bringing new skills, creativity and innovation."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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