Ethnicity Pay Gap Report

The ethnicity pay gap is the difference in average earnings between all ethnic groups.

Currently there is no legislative requirement for organisations to carry out ethnicity pay gap reporting.

While reporting is not mandatory, as part of the Service’s approach to improving inclusion and tackle inequality within the workplace, this data is being provided from 2023.

In reporting this data, we have followed guidance for employers as detailed on the GOV.UK website.  

Using the principles of the gender pay gap reporting, data has been based on the snapshot date of 31 March 2023 and captures three pay statistics: 

1. Mean ethnicity pay gap – the difference between the mean hourly rate of pay of all white British full-pay relevant employees and that of full-pay relevant employees from other ethnic backgrounds 
2. Median ethnicity pay gap – the difference between the median hourly rate of pay of all white British full-pay relevant employees and that of full-pay relevant employees from other ethnic backgrounds 
3. Quartile pay bands – the proportions of full-pay relevant employees from white British and other ethnic backgrounds in the lower, lower-middle, upper-middle and upper quartile pay bands 

In addition to the pay statistics above, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has also recommended reporting on two additional statistics: 

1. Proportion of the total workforce from other ethnic backgrounds 
2. Proportion of employees who have disclosed their ethnicity  

Whilst gender pay gap reporting compares the data of two groups (males and females) ethnicity pay gap reporting is more complex and involves more groups, some of which have fewer numbers. 

Combining different ethnic groups into the five categories as defined in the 2021 Census of England and Wales is something the Service will aspire to as diversity within the workforce improves: 

• Asian or Asian British  
• Black, Black British, Caribbean or African 
• Mixed or multiple ethnic groups 
• White  
• Other ethnic group 

As there is a requirement to protect confidentiality, different ethnic groups have been combined and for 2023 our categories include: 

• White British 
• Other ethnic backgrounds  
• Not known  

Whilst it is acknowledged having fewer categories masks the variations between ethnic groups and provides pay gap data comparing the earnings of ethnic minority employees as a percentage of all white British employees, using the five-category breakdown results in many of the categories with insufficient numbers to be able to report the data.