Gender pay gap at Lewes District Council revealed

The data, which showed a pay gap of just 3.5%, was compiled from analysis of 488 women and 423 men working across Lewes District Council and Eastbourne Borough Council.

A 3.5 per cent pay gap equates to a 44p difference in the average hourly rates of pay for women (£12.22) and men (£12.66).

A council spokesperson said, “The analysis shows that Eastbourne and Lewes compare very favourably with other similar organisations. The civil service gender pay gap stands at 12.7 per cent and the public sector as a whole at 19.4 per cent. The average pay gap in the private sector is 23.7 per cent.

“Eastbourne Borough Council and Lewes District Council recently completed a shared integration of all services and staff to deliver more flexible, customer-focused and cost-effective services. However, this does not affect the political sovereignty of either council, which continue to be completely independent of one another.”

Councillor Elayne Merry, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for People and Performance at Lewes District Council, said, “In the year that we mark 100 years since the Representation of the People Act, we welcome this news, but we are not complacent. While we have similar numbers of men and women working at every level of the organisation our ambition of full equality remains undimmed.”

Councillor Dean Sabri, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Core Support and Strategic Services at Eastbourne Borough Council, said, “I’m proud of where we are in consigning the pay gap to history.

“Our HR team will continue to closely monitor recruitment and retention trends and in the coming year will revise relevant policies and actively encourage flexible working across our organisation where the needs of the service allow.”