Revealed: The 'scandalous' gender pay gap in Scottish public sector

Women working in some public sector organisations in Scotland are paid less than three quarters of what their male counterparts earn, with the gender pay gap higher than the national average across at least seven public bodies.

An analysis by Scotland on Sunday of data compiled under the UK government’s gender pay gap reporting mechanism shows that in some public sector employers, the median hourly pay gap - the difference in pay between the middle-ranking woman and the middle-ranking man - has more than quadrupled.

Organisations which campaign to address women’s inequality in the workplace described the figures as “scandalous,” and urged the Scottish Government to do more to ensure public bodies close their pay gaps.

Emily Liddle, campaigns manager at the Fawcett Society, said: “It's not unreasonable to expect government bodies to lead the way in doing this, but across some of Scotland’s largest organisations, this doesn’t seem to be a reality.”

Across the UK, the data shows that the median hourly pay gap shrank from ten per cent to 9.8% in the 12 months to last April, meaning that women earned 90.2p for every £1 men earned. However, the pay gap at some high profile Scottish public bodies is considerably higher.

One of the highest disparities is at the Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration, an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government.

Women employed by the organisation, headquartered in Stirling, earn just 72p for every £1 that men earn - a median hourly pay gap of 27.9%.

The gender pay gap has widened across several Scottish public bodies. Picture: Joe Giddens/PA

That is the same figure reported by the organisation last year. Neil Hunter, its chief executive, has since published a 10 page report into gender pay gap issues. It includes seven “recommended actions,” such as providing mentoring and career support for women, and increasing the diversity of its workforce.

However, he also described the situation as “improving,” given the gap stood at 29.2% five years ago.

ScotRail, which this month went back into public ownership, has a median gap of 26.1%, a marginal improvement on the 2020 figure of 26.2 per cent, when Abellio was the operator. Women hold just eight per cent of ScotRail’s best paid jobs.

The company said it was confident men and women are paid equally for doing equivalent jobs, and it would continue to address any gender imbalance, particularly in its engineering and service delivery areas.

Jill Wood, policy manager at Engender.

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited, another executive non-departmental public body, has a median gap of 16.2%.

Women employed by the Scottish Prison Service, a government executive agency, earn 84p for every £1 that men earn - a gap of 15.6%, up 0.1%.

Sportscotland’s gap is 11.6%, with Inverness College close behind on 11.4%. Publicly-owned Glasgow Prestwick Airport has a gap of 12.7%.

Anna Ritchie Allan, executive director of Close the Gap

The vast majority of Scottish public bodies are not required to report their pay gap under the UK regulations, and instead report under the public sector equality duty (PSED) in Scotland.

However, the figures thrown up in the UK database have sparked concern.

Anna Ritchie Allan, executive director of Close the Gap, said: “Public bodies have been reporting their pay gap for almost a decade, and yet there’s been little change, and in some cases regression. This aligns with international evidence which tells us that reporting alone doesn’t create change. The Scottish Government needs to be bolder in its review of the PSED and require public bodies to publish an action plan.”

“Employers routinely cite the make-up of their workforce as a justification for their gender pay gap, rather than a starting point for change. Getting more women into senior roles is critical but it’s also important to look at women’s clustering in low-paid stereotypically female work.

Jill Wood, policy manager at Engender, described the pay gap figures as “scandalous”

“These findings show clearly that while organisations may be keen to promote their so-called commitment to women’s equality, they are not putting the work in to actually close their gender pay gaps,” she said.

“The Scottish Government has an opportunity to take real action on this with its current reform of the PSED. Unfortunately, what we have seen so far from the government in terms of these reforms has been light-touch and uninspiring.”

Even among public bodies where the gender pay gap is lower than average, it has still widened.

They include the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), where the gap increased more than threefold from 2.4% to 7.6%.

It attributed the increase to the way in which the median point for male and female employees is calculated.

The SPCB’s analysis also found its minority ethnic staff face a pay gap of 27.6% compared to their white colleagues.

Scottish Forestry, a government agency, saw its gender pay gap extend from 1.3% to 6.1%.

While swaths of Scotland’s public sector still has much to do in order to address such gaps, the challenge facing the private sector is even greater.

Xodus Group, the Aberdeen-headquartered energy consultancy, has a gap of 37.6%, down from 42.5%. Clydesdale Bank's gap increased to 34.9% from 34.7%. At TSB, it widened from 24% to 25.6%. Standard Life Assets saw its gap increase from 24.4% to 25.2%, while Petroineos in Grangemouth jumped to 32% from 23%.

JPIMedia Publishing, the owners of Scotland on Sunday, reported a median gap of 10.3%, down from 12.4%.

The Scottish Government said it was committed to ensuring public sector pay systems were “fair and non-discriminatory, and that its public sector pay policy has a focus on reducing inequalities, including the gender pay gap.

“Public bodies covered by the policy are expected to carry out their own equality impact assessment of their pay proposals to ensure inequalities are addressed,” a spokesman said. “All employers covered are required to confirm that they have considered their obligations under equalities legislation in developing their pay proposals.

“The public sector pay policy specifically provides the opportunity to use paybill savings to address inequalities in pay structures, such as gender pay gaps.”