A NORTH Wales council must do more to address reducing the pay gap of its ethnic minority staff, says a council report.
The matter was debated at a Conwy finance and resources scrutiny committee meeting at Bodlondeb today (Monday).
The committee discussed The Equal Pay Audit 2018-23, which identified an 8.84% pay gap disparity for ethnic minority council staff.
The audit provides analysis on pay broken down by gender, ethnicity, disability, and age, with a focus on the five financial years from 2018-19 to 2022-23.
The report is part of the council’s ongoing duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make sure staff are paid fairly, regardless of an employee’s protected characteristic.
This includes age, sex, religious beliefs and non-beliefs, sexual orientation, and ethnicity, as well as those with a disability, on maternity, or transitioning through gender reassignment.
But, whilst the report did show pay gaps for disabled staff, these were deemed to be within acceptable overall levels as set by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (0.73%).
So, too, was the gender pay gap, as 75% of Conwy staff are female, the majority of whom work in lower pay graded jobs, and this too was below the 5% threshold at 4.93%.
But the report did state: ‘It is acknowledged that we need to consider actions around gender segregation to challenge traditional stereotypes around what is deemed women’s and men’s work, which will have a positive impact on the gender pay gap.”
But the same report said there was an 8.84% pay gap affecting those from ethnic minorities when looking at all staff.
The report suggested the disparity ‘appears to be attributed in part to the very small number of recorded ethnic minority teachers employed where higher salaries exist’.
But Cllr Gareth Jones said he didn’t believe there was an ethnicity pay gap, instead suggesting it was due to small numbers of people skewing the figures.
“Just at the end there, you said we need to address the ethnicity pay gap, but I was just looking at some of the stats,” he said.
“I can’t see where there is a problem with the ethnicity pay gap at Conwy Council. If you just look at the stats, white Welsh are paid less than average compared with, if I pick one at random, white Irish.”
“White Irish are paid more than average than white Welsh, so that’s where the whole thing is skewed by really small numbers. I won’t suggest Charlie (Cllr McCoubrey) has anything to do with it, but sometimes the stats we are dealing are such small numbers in some areas that the stats can be skewed.”
But council officer Fran Lewis said Conwy needed to do better, making sure the ethnicity of workers was more diverse.
“The marker is 5%, and it has gone up to 8.84%,” she said.
“You are absolutely right. It is not just about statistics. It’s about looking at our workforce profile as a whole, and regardless of the pay gap, we know that this is an area where we really need to do better.”
She added: “We’ve talked about recruitment. We’ve talked about performance. We’ve talked about talent, and we know, as Cllr Chris (Hughes) has just highlighted, that a diverse workforce creates better performance and better creativity, and this is an area, regardless of statistics, where we are not an organisation that is represented, so we need to do better.”
Ms Lewis was referring to Colwyn Bay councillor Chris Hughes, who spoke earlier at the meeting, revealing he has a disability he has chosen to keep private until now, as he wants to be there on merit.
“What people don’t know is I actually do have a disability, but I’ve never wanted to share that,” he said.
“If I achieve something, I want to do it on my own merit, rather than because I have been given some sort of benefit through being disabled, and I think people are very much the same.
“They want to achieve things because they feel they deserve it or they’ve achieved it themselves, rather than on the back of their own disabilities.
“It’s difficult for some people. In my role as a councillor, I don’t want people saying, ‘Give him that role because he’s disabled.’ I want to be here because my residents have voted for me and they’ve done so because they think I’ve done a good job.”
He added: “And I think that anyone in employment wants to be in the job they are in because they are doing a good job, rather than because somebody feels sorry for them.”
Introducing the report, cabinet member for audit, policy, and performance Cllr Chris Cater said it was important the council were welcoming and inclusive.
“We have to expand our knowledge and understanding and indeed our empathy to share a collective commitment to this,” he said.
“It is really important that any discriminatory behaviour is stamped on immediately and recorded and reported.”
He added: “We need to focus on the ethnicity pay gap, and we need to focus on recruitment pathways for people with learning disabilities.”
The committee rubberstamped the report, which will now be debated by cabinet.
