At a meeting of Wokingham Borough Council held on Thusday, January 23, two questions were asked by members of the Women’s Equality Party about the council’s gender pay gap and what it was going to do to fix it.
Rebecca Walkley said that Wokingham Borough Council ran at a pay gap of 13.9%, while the local government average is 6.1%, 2.9% in Reading and -0.7% in Oxford.
And Louise Timlin wanted to know what advice the council had sought to address the gender pay gap.
Cllr John Halsall, leader of Wokingham Borough Council, said that part of the problem is caused by the flexible nature of the part-time work in the borough.
“It is unlikely to change significantly unless there is a society shift with more men taking on this role and seeking part-time work,” he said.
“In addition to this we are unable to compare ourselves to neighbouring local authorities as we have outsourced all the lower graded positions that typically are filled by men, whereas Reading and Oxford still deliver these services in house.”
And he told Ms Timlin that council will not consult with external organisations, but it does “discuss the gender pay gap and share best practice and action plans with the other Berkshire Authorities”.
Cllr Halsall also noted that three out of five of the council’s senior leadership team are female.
