Wiltshire Police publishes its latest Gender Pay Gap Report
Wiltshire Police has recorded a 23% increase in the number of female police officers in the last three years, according to its latest Gender Pay Gap Report 2022, published today (30 March 2023).
The report is a snapshot of Wiltshire Police on 31 March 2022. For the third year running, the Force employed more female police officers and police staff combined than their male counterparts - 1,213 women and 1,156 men – totalling 2,369 employees overall.
Since 2017, any public sector organisation with more than 250 employees must report and publish figures about its gender pay gap annually. The report shows the percentage difference between the mean (average) and median (mid-point) hourly earnings of men and woman in the workplace. Men and women are paid equally at every grade in Wiltshire Police, but if one gender dominates higher pay graded roles it results in a gender pay gap.
The median gender pay gap was 9.09% on 31 March 2022, a small but welcome decrease from 9.56% in 2021, reflecting the continued growth in female police officer numbers and more women applying for and becoming successful at promotion to senior roles.
Highlights from the 2022 report show:
- A 23% increase in female police officers since the start of the Government’s Uplift recruitment programme in 2019, from 344 that year to 424 in March 2022.
- For the third year, the Force employed more women than men in officer and staff roles combined, with a ratio of 51:49 in favour of females.
- Success rates for women seeking promotion through the ranks are growing and more being done to encourage women to apply for specialist roles like firearms and roads policing.
- The Force rose from 36th to 22nd place in the Top UK Inclusive Companies Index in December 2022, a definitive list of organisations promoting inclusion and workforce diversity.
Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills reaffirmed his commitment to shrinking the pay gap even further, encouraging more women to consider a career in policing and to seek progression into senior ranks.
“Gender balance continues to be a key priority as we work hard to become a more diverse workforce, reflecting the communities we are here to serve,” he said.
“Catherine Roper’s recent appointment as the second female Chief Constable in Wiltshire Police’s history, sends a very positive message to women about joining the police and succeeding to the highest levels,” DCC Mills added.
This is the third year the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) has published its own breakdown. Due to its organisational size, PCC Philip Wilkinson isn’t required to publish his office figures, but believes it is important to publish employee data to ensure transparency and accountability to the county’s residents.
The OPCC directly employs 26 members of staff and 66 employees in total, including those working in departments employed and hosted by the PCC. It employs more females than males – 50 females and 16 males – women dominate the lowest two pay banding quartiles.
PCC Philip Wilkinson said he welcomed both the findings of Wiltshire Police and his own office and said he was committed to gender parity and balance within the workforce, including seeing more females move to senior roles within policing in general.
“While I welcome the report and acknowledge the great steps that have been made both within Wiltshire Police and my own office, we must never become complacent and think we cannot do better,” he said.
“We absolutely can do better, and we will – both myself and force senior leadership share this vision and will continue to support that growth and encourage further development opportunities.
“We must continue to ensure female progression into senior ranks as well as attracting, and retaining, women in senior staff appointments.”
Published Thursday 30 March 2023
Click below to read the full report.