1.0 Introduction
From April 2017, all organisations that employ over 250 employees are required to report annually their gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is defined as the differences in the average earnings of men and women over a standard period of time, regardless of their role seniority.
A positive pay gap indicates that men are paid on average a greater hourly rate; a negative pay gap indicates that women are paid on average a greater hourly rate.
2.0 Context
Blackpool Council is a unitary authority, which provides around 150 services to 141,300 Blackpool residents. (Source ONS Stats Population and migration statistics transformation, Blackpool case study - Office for National Statistics)
All Blackpool Council employees are remunerated according to set pay scales; posts are regularly reviewed and agreed by employee representatives through a formal job evaluation system. As at 31 March 2025, 2,693 employees were in scope for the gender pay gap of which 70.3 % were female.
Blackpool Council is committed to eliminating discrimination and encouraging equality and diversity in our workforce. This approach is summarised in our council plan, which outlines 4 key equality objectives. These include a specific commitment to workforce equality as follows:
We will ensure the workforce is representative of the community the council serves and equality is embedded in our staff culture.
We have established a network of staff equality forums which are intended to deepen our engagement and strengthen dialogue.
What are we required to report?
Description of terms
| Type | Description |
|---|
| Mean gender pay gap |
The difference between the mean hourly rate of pay of male full-pay relevant employees and that of female full-pay relevant employees |
| Median gender pay gap |
The difference between the median hourly rate of pay of male full-pay relevant employees and that of female full-pay relevant employees |
| Mean Bonus Gap |
The difference between the mean bonus pay paid to male relevant employees and that paid to female relevant employees |
| Median Bonus Gap |
The difference between the median bonus pay paid to male relevant employees and that paid to female relevant employees |
| Quartile pay bands |
The proportions of male and female full-pay relevant employees in the lower, lower middle, upper middle and upper quartile pay bands |
The overall gender pay gap is defined as the difference between the median (actual midpoint) or mean (average) basic annual earnings of men and women expressed as a percentage of the median or mean basic annual earnings of men.
3.0 Data
Blackpool’s gender pay gap - Based on a snapshot date of 31 March 2025
Details of gender pay gap
| Reference | type | Result |
|---|
| 1 |
Mean pay gap |
-2.08% |
| 2 |
Median pay gap |
-3.42% |
| 3 |
Mean bonus gender pay gap |
Blackpool Council does not operate any bonus scheme and therefore has no bonus gender pay gap. |
| 4 |
Median bonus gender pay gap |
Blackpool Council does not operate any bonus scheme and therefore has no bonus gender pay gap. |
| 5 |
Proportion of males /females receiving a bonus payment |
Blackpool Council does not operate any bonus scheme and therefore has no bonus gender pay gap. |
| 6 |
Proportion of males and females in each quartile pay band |
Quartile 1 (Lowest)
- Female - 66.7%
- Male - 33.3%
Quartile 2
- Female - 66.6%
- Male - 33.4%
Quartile 3
- Female - 73.1%
- Male - 26.9%
Quartile 4 (Highest)
- Female - 74.7%
- Male - 25.3%
|
4.0 Findings
Figure 1 below shows the Mean Gender Pay Gap data of - 2.08% and the Median Gender Pay Gap -3.42%, and how this compares to previous years.
Figure 1
Mean gender pay gap data
| Description | As at 31 March 2020 | As at 31 March 2021 | As at 31 March 2022 | As at 31 March 2023 | As at 31 March 2024 | As at 31 March 2025 |
|---|
| Published by |
April 21 |
April 22 |
April 23 |
April 24 |
April 25 |
April 26 |
| Mean |
-0.77% |
-0.94% |
1.15% |
-0.43% |
-0.52% |
-2.08 |
| Median |
-5.40% |
-6.12% |
-2.04 % |
-5.72% |
-2.46% |
-3.42 |
These figures compare well with the national picture, where the gender pay gap among full-time employees was 6.9% in April 2025, down from 7.1% in April 2024. Among all employees, the gender pay gap decreased to 12.8 % in April 2025, down from 13.1% in April 2024. Source Gender pay gap in the UK - Office for National Statistics
Although these figures are favourable for the council, we are not complacent and will continue to closely monitor our performance, along with delivering and maintaining initiatives that we have in place which have contributed to these results such as:
Family friendly
- Actively supporting parents returning to work from maternity leave, shared parental leave, paternity leave or adoption leave by offering job share, career break or part time opportunities
- Carers Support Leave to support employees with caring responsibilities
- Flexible working (Flexitime)
- Voluntary reduced hours, job share and career break schemes
- Signposting to childcare information
- Compassionate and special leave arrangements including the introduction of parental bereavement leave above the statutory minimum
Learning and development
- Annual appraisals for all staff to allow the opportunity to discuss key work objectives, wellbeing and learning and development needs
- Mandatory equalities learning for all
- 360-degree feedback process for managers is available
- Development of coaching and mentoring programmes
- Annual staff conference and awards ceremony
- Menopause – staff support group established, development of a manager’s training package and related managers guidance
- Manbassador – staff support group established, development of a manager’s training package and related managers guidance
Leadership
- Head of equality and diversity is a member of the senior leadership team
- Strategic equality steering group with senior officers
- Staff equality groups chaired by head of equality and diversity
- Directorate equality self-assessment process
- Development programmes for aspiring managers
- Leadership charter in place
- Recruitment and retention
- An established online jobs portal, where all jobs are advertised
- The use of a variety of selection methods in the recruitment process
- Establishment and maintenance of a job evaluation system using nationally recognised NJC and Hay schemes
- Salary scales clearly showing incremental progression and related criteria
- Established Real Living Wage
- Monitoring of recruitment data as part of workforce equality monitoring
5.0 Agreement
I confirm that Blackpool Council is committed to the principle of gender pay equality and has prepared its 2025 gender pay gap results in line with mandatory requirements.
Signed
Neil Jack
Chief executive