Gender, Ethnicity and Disability Pay Gap Report highlights continued focus on fairness and inclusion

We’re pleased to share our latest Gender, Ethnicity and Disability Pay Gap report which highlights the positive progress we’re continuing to make in closing the gender pay gap and ensuring gender equality across the council.  

Our annual report sets out workforce and pay data based on the pay period at 31 March 2025. 

The report includes information on workforce composition and average hourly pay for women and men. It also includes pay gap data for employees from ethnic minority backgrounds and disabled employees. While only gender pay gap reporting is required by law, the council continues to voluntarily publish ethnicity and disability pay gap information as part of its wider commitment to equality and inclusion.  

The latest figures show that, on average, female employees continue to be paid slightly more than male employees. The median gender pay gap is -3.9% and the mean gender pay gap is -0.3%, meaning women earn slightly more than men on average. These figures are broadly comparable with last year, reflecting small changes in workforce composition and progression through pay scales. 

Key highlights from the 2025 report include: 

• The workforce remains predominantly female, with 68.5% women and 31.5% men, a small increase in the proportion of female employees compared to 2024.  
• The largest gender difference continues to be in grades 1 to 3, where 71.8% of employees are female, reflecting the nature of roles and the availability of part-time work.  
• Representation of women in grades 12 to 17 and the Barnsley Leadership Team has increased, with 66.1% female and 32.1% male.  
• Ethnic minority employees earn 4.7% more than white employees on a median basis, although they remain underrepresented, making up 2.8% of the workforce.  
• A disabled employees earns 0.8% less than non-disabled employees on a median basis, with underrepresentation at higher grades, including grade 14 and above and at leadership level.  

Councillor Robert Frost, Cabinet Spokesperson for Core Services, said: “Our vision is for Barnsley to be the place of possibilities for all. That means being a fair, inclusive and transparent employer.  

This year’s report shows that while we continue to make progress, there is still more to do. By voluntarily reporting on ethnicity and disability pay gaps alongside gender, we’re strengthening our understanding of where inequalities exist and where we need to focus our efforts. 

Over the last year we’ve taken positive steps to improve support, progression and representation across the organisation, and we’re committed to building on this work.” 

We want to reduce any pay gaps across the council and embed equality as part of our inclusive culture. Over the last 12 months we have: 

• strengthened our approach to equality by improving how information is collected and reported 
• reviewed job design and evaluation processes 
• carried out targeted recruitment activity 
• enhanced our wellbeing and support offers, including menopause support and tailored support for disabled and ethnic minority employees.  

Looking ahead, the council has set out clear next steps. These include further improvements to data quality, encouraging more employees to share their information, continuing detailed equality analysis of pay and recruitment, and introducing mentoring to amplify the voices of colleagues from underrepresented groups.  

The report will be presented to Cabinet for approval on Wednesday 18 March 2026. View the cabinet papers on our website.