Agenda item

The Chair asked Members if they would agree to change the Agenda order so that the Update on Performance Management for Chief Officers (Agenda Item 5) could be presented and discussed as the last report on the Agenda (Agenda Item 7) in order to then move straight into Part II of the Agenda, as this Agenda Item contained exempt information. Members agreed to this.

The Diversity and Inclusion Manager introduced the Gender Pay Gap report, which presented Members with the 2022 Slough Borough Council statutory gender pay gap figures. It was explained that the figures provided in the report were based on a snapshot date of available payroll data on 31 March 2022. The annual gender pay gap figures for Slough Borough Council for 2022 had to be published by 30 March 2023.

Questions from Members mainly concerned the fact that although the Council’s gender pay gap figures were positive overall, there was still a disproportionate number of men compared to women in senior management positions, and the recent and ongoing recruitment campaigns could and should be doing more to address this imbalance. Officers acknowledged that the gender pay gap increased as the age, and seniority, of employees increased, this was the case nationally across UK organisations. Nevertheless with the remainder of the senior management restructure, and other departmental restructures such as finance, there was the possibility that some of this balance may be redressed.

Members also asked about the opportunities for internal progression and career development support for existing Council employees. The Associate Director, HR, explained that the appraisal process was currently being overhauled with personal development plans for all staff recently launched and the Workforce Development Team would be putting together data and looking at the career development process, including at senior management level.

At the conclusion of the discussion the Chair and Members were appreciative of the work that had been done in this area, while also noting that the current senior management structure could be more representative of the community it served in terms of both gender and diversity.

Resolved – That the Committee reviewed and noted the Gender Pay Gap Report 2022.