Wiltshire Police publishes its latest Gender Pay Gap Report

The report is a snapshot of Wiltshire Police on 31 March 2022. For the third year running, the Force employed more female police officers and police staff combined than their male counterparts - 1,213 women and 1,156 men – with 2,369 employees overall.

Since 2017, any public sector organisation with more than 250 employees must report and publish figures about its gender pay gap annually. The report shows the percentage difference between the mean (average) and median (mid-point) hourly earnings of men and women in the workplace. Men and women are paid equally at every grade in Wiltshire Police, but if one gender dominates higher pay-graded roles, it results in a gender pay gap.

The median gender pay gap was 9.09% on 31 March 2022, a slight but welcome decrease from 9.56% in 2021. It has nearly halved since 2017, when Wiltshire Police first started measuring when the figure was 17.6%. It reflects the continued growth in female police officer numbers and more women applying for and becoming successful at promotion to senior roles.

Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills reaffirmed his commitment to shrinking the pay gap even further, encouraging more women to consider a career in policing and to seek progression into senior ranks: “Gender balance continues to be a key priority as we work hard to become a more diverse workforce, reflecting the communities we are here to serve,” he said.

“Catherine Roper’s recent appointment as the second female Chief Constable in Wiltshire Police’s history, sends a very positive message to women about joining the police and succeeding to the highest levels,” DCC Mills added.

This is the third year the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) has published its own breakdown. Due to its organisational size, PCC Philip Wilkinson isn’t required to publish his office figures but believes it is important to publish employee data to ensure transparency and accountability to the county’s residents.

The OPCC directly employs 26 members of staff and 66 employees in total, including those working in departments employed and hosted by the PCC. It employs more females than males – 50 females and 16 males – women dominate the lowest two pay banding quartiles.

Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said: “Encouraging female representation at all levels within policing – especially within senior roles - is vital to ensuring that, as an employer, we are meeting our obligations and that we retain a committed workforce representative of the community it serves.

“The decrease in pay gap and more female officers in senior positions in Wiltshire Police are great steps in the right direction. Within the OPCC, we have more females in senior positions than before, but we must never become complacent and think we cannot do better – because we always can.

“Both the Chief Constable and I remain committed to ensuring more development opportunities and growth, as well as enabling the retention of expertise throughout a female officer and staff career.”

To read the latest report, go to https://www.wiltshire.police.uk/police-forces/wiltshire-police/areas/about-us/about-us/gender-pay-gap/