Scottish Parliament sets out action plan to tackle its gender pay gap

This means the average salary for women is 11.1 per cent less than the average salary for men. To accompany publication of the first set of figures, the Parliament has also set out its action plan to close the gap to within a ‘tolerance level’ of plus or minus 5 per cent. The Scotland-wide gender pay gap figure currently stands at 15.6 per cent.

In a message to all staff, Parliament’s Leadership Group member Susan Duffy said:

“We’ve always set out to be an exemplar as an employer and we have a range of progressive measures and policies in place that we’re rightly proud of. We have a robust pay system and we don’t have a bonus culture. Despite this, we still have a gender pay gap – why is that?

“Put simply, we have more women than men in lower grades and more men than women in higher grades, which means the average salary for women is lower.”

Ms Duffy added:

“We are committed to closing the gender pay gap. We have already put in place a number of initiatives designed to tackle any barriers that impact on women’s progression such as our Women in Leadership Programme and establishment of the Women’s Network and we have a range of effective family friendly policies.

“But we need to do more. That is why alongside the Gender Pay Gap report we are publishing a comprehensive action plan.

“We will also take stock of our recruitment practices and examine whether women are properly represented on our internal project boards and management groups.”

On the establishing of a new gender pay gap target of plus or minus 5 per cent each year Ms Duffy said: “

This will not be easy to achieve, but we firmly believe it’s the right thing to do, for all of our staff.”

Read the full message to staff, plus links to the SPCB’s report, action plan and background paper.