THE DIFFERENCE in pay between men and women who work at Wokingham Borough Council was examined by the local leader of the Women’s Equality Party.
Louise Timlin asked a question about the issue at a virtual meeting of Wokingham Borough Council, held on Thursday, July 23.
She said that the difference in mean hourly rate was “13.9% in 2018, increasing to 15.23% in 2019”.
“The Council has an opportunity in the publication of the Annual Pay Policy Statement to make clear their action plan for addressing the increasing Gender Pay Gap,” she said.
“Will WBC commit to including an action plan to address their Gender Pay Gap in the Annual Pay Policy Statement and if not would they, at a minimum, commit to include a statement of intent similar to that included by Reading Council?”
Cllr JOhn Halsall, the leader of the council, said: “Our statement of intent in relation to the Gender Pay Gap is included in our Annual Equality Action Plan for 2020 which is due to be published in September and introduces a Gender pay gap sub group to develop proposals to reduce our Gender Pay Gap by 1% year on year for the next thee years.”
He added: “There has been a delay in publication this year to ensure we address the issues highlighted by Black Lives Matter and will now got to Personnel Board for their consideration in September.”
