Gender Pay Gap
Wiltshire Police has recorded an 18% increase in the number of female police officers in the last two years, according to its latest Gender Pay Gap Report 2021, published in March 2022.
Since 2017, any public sector organisation with more than 250 employees must report, and publish, its figures about its gender pay gap annually.
This is the fifth Wiltshire Police Gender Pay Gap Report since public sector reporting was made mandatory in 2017.
The report is a snapshot of Wiltshire Police on 31 March 2021. For the second year in a row, the Force employed more female than male police officers and police staff in total - 1,212 women and 1,151 men.
Median Gender Pay Gap for 2021
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. However, if one gender dominates higher pay graded roles, this results in a gender pay gap.
The median gender pay gap was 9.56% as of 31 March 2021, a slight increase of 0.47% from the 2020 report, mainly due to more male officers joining in previous years who are now past their probation and starting to receive annual pay scale increments.
2021 Report highlights:
- Female police staff numbers continue to outweigh male staff numbers by a ratio of 36:64 (men/women); 39 women joined the police staff payroll in the review year, compared to seven male police staff joiners over the same period.
- Police officer numbers showed a 63:37 ratio in favour of men (men/women) as per the previous year’s report. However, encouraging trends are emerging, with an 18% increase in the number of female police officers, from 344 in 2019 to 405 in 2021.
- Female progression through the ranks and grades has some way to go, but in March 2021, 17 female police officers passed the sergeants exam, compared with only one in the previous exam. The chief inspector rank has been reintroduced, with females promoted in two of the four appointments in October 2020.
- A dedicated Positive Action team works to increase representation from under-represented groups in policing, through targeted recruitment work. In last year’s police officer recruitment campaign, 44% of all applicants were female, the highest on record.
Achievements in the last 12 months:
- Continuing our trend of more female police officers, with a 7% increase in
females joining in the 12 months to 31 March 2021. - Some 44% of all applicants in our May 2021 police officer recruitment
campaign were female, the highest number on record. - In March 2021, 17 female police officers passed the Sergeants exam,
compared with only one the previous exam. - Delivered engagement sessions to encourage females to apply for
promotion. As a result, at Sergeant level, in October 2020 12 females
passed the Inspector examination,compared with only one the previous
exam. - Connect, our newly formed Women’s Staff Support Network, attracted
more than 110 members and launched a Fitness Test Support Group and started a series of inspiring women events. - Reintroduced the rank of Chief Inspector, with females promoted
in two of the four appointments in October 2020. - We were proud to achieve 36th place on the Top UK Inclusive
Companies index in December 2021, on our first time of applying.