Report document
Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Report 2025
Published 17 February 2026
Introduction
As a public sector employer with over 250 employees, we're required to publish data on our gender pay gap. The difference between the average hourly pay of all men and women we employ.
Although we're required to publish this data under the Equality Act 2010, by publishing this report we're reaffirming our commitment to being and modern and inclusive employer. This report is only one way in which we're promoting equality of opportunity for everyone and will help us to identify new ways in which we can become a modern employer of the future.
The information within this report is based on a snapshot of pay on 31 March 2025. This information will only include employees employed on this date and in receipt of their normal full pay; it will not include employees who were on reduced pay like those on maternity leave.
What is a gender and ethnicity pay gap
The gender pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of men and women across the organisation. The gender pay gap is calculated as a difference in the mean and median hourly rates at the snapshot date and is expressed as a percentage of the average earnings of men.
The ethnicity pay gap shows the difference in average and median rates of pay between staff from minority ethnic backgrounds and white staff.
They are not the same as equal pay.
Equal pay is about:
Pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs, or work of equal value. Men and women are paid equally for the same work.
Gender pay gap is about:
Differences in average hourly pay and bonuses between all men and women in a workforce, expressed as a percentage of men's earnings.
We're required to publish the following:
Mean
The difference between the mean hourly rate of pay of male and female employees.
Median
The difference between the median hourly rate of pay of male and female employees.
Mean bonus
The difference between the mean bonus paid to male and female employees.
Median bonus
The difference between the median bonus paid to male and female employees.
The proportion of employees receiving a bonus
The proportion of male and female employees who were paid bonus pay.
The quartile pay bands
The proportion of male and female employees in each of four pay bands. These are:
- upper quartile
- upper middle quartile
- lower middle quartile
- lower quartile
Our gender pay gap
Mean hourly pay
Men = £19.07
Women = £18.50
2.99% pay gap
Median hourly pay
Men = £16.21
Women =£16.66
-2.78% pay gap
Proportion of employees receiving bonus pay
Men = 2.09%
Women = 3.84%
Summary of data
Our pay structure follows a standard public sector approach to pay and grading and covers grades from manual job roles to senior managerial levels. Grades vary according to the level of responsibility, and each grade is evaluated through a job evaluation process in accordance with our job evaluation scheme. We also have a clear policy of paying employees equally for the same or equivalent work, regardless of their gender.
The overall mean gender pay gap at the council is 2.99%, which means that, for all employees (both full-time and part-time), men earned on average 2.99% more than women hourly.
The median gender pay gap is -2.78% (the average median hourly rate for a male is £16.21 and for a female, this is £16.66).
The gender pay gap is lower than the national average compared to the Kent average figure. The gender split across all employees is 59% female and 41% male, which is lower than the traditional gender split in Local Government of 70% female and 30% male. Due to this more even split, female and male employees are more evenly distributed between the pay grades, which reduces the gender pay gap.
Bonus pay is defined as any payment or remuneration that is in the form of money or vouchers that relates to productivity, performance, incentive or commission. This covers cash awards for exceptional performance and long service awards in the form of vouchers.
The difference between the mean bonus pay for male relevant employees and that paid to female relevant employees is -50.77%. We operate a long service award scheme, where employees are given vouchers after completing a certain amount of service. Long service awards are paid after ten years’ service, and then for every five years’ service thereafter. The value of the award increases over time, and the same award is offered to female and male staff members. The reason for the difference relates to more females receiving the long service award compared to males.
How does this compare with 2024?
Mean gender pay gap
0.99% decrease
3.02% in 2024
2.99% in 2025
Median gender pay gap
6.2% decrease
1.61% in 2024
-2.78% in 2025
There has been a decrease in the mean and median gender pay gap; this mainly reflects the structural changes in the Revenues and Benefits team due to the TUPE transfer of staff from Swale Borough Council.
Pay quartile | Proportion of males | Proportion of females | Male proportion increase |
|---|---|---|---|
Upper quartile | 53.28% | 46.72% | 0.90% |
Upper middle quartile | 32.12% | 67.88% | 0.87% |
Lower middle quartile | 24.09% | 75.91% | -3.11% |
Lower quartile | 58.39% | 41.61% | 1.13% |
There have been slight increases in the proportion of male employees in both the upper and upper middle quartiles, with rises of 0.90% and 0.87%, respectively. The lower middle quartile saw a decrease of 3.11% in male representation, while the lower quartile experienced a 1.13% increase.
Our overall workforce is 59% female and 41% male, but this gender split is not evenly distributed across all pay grades. A higher proportion of female employees is concentrated in the middle quartiles, which contributes to the overall gender pay gap. Achieving pay equity would require a more balanced gender representation across all quartiles.
Our workforce
Full-time/part-time by gender
Part-time female = 32%
Full time female = 68%
Part-time male = 8%
Full time male = 92%
We employ 318 female and 230 male members of staff. In addition, the majority of male staff members are full-time, whereas over one-third of female staff members are in part-time positions. This shows a notable difference in working patterns between genders.
Further analysis shows that there are more female workers in the middle pay grades (grades 6-12) than male workers. This could be contributing to the small mean gender pay gap.
We also offer numerous family-friendly policies and flexible working options such as job share and term-time working. The data shows that female employees take up these flexible benefits at a greater level compared to males. This adversely impacts our gender pay gap.
The following table shows the gender pay gap for full-time and part-time workers:
Working pattern | Number of employees | Mean hourly pay males | Mean hourly pay females | Mean gender pay gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Full time | 462 | £18.41 | £18.38 | 0.16% |
Part time | 122 | £15.76 | £16.11 | -2.22% |
The gender pay gap for new starters
Mean hourly pay
Men = £14.92
Women = £15.93
-6.47% pay gap
Median hourly pay
Men = £16.18
Women =£15.61
3.52% pay gap
Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, we employed 31 males and 58 females in new roles. This gender distribution was because of the TUPE transfer of the Revenues and Benefits team, which had 28 staff members, 22 of whom were female. Additionally, two members of this team hold managerial positions that fall within the upper quartile. This contributed to the overall increase in female representation during this period.
How does this compare with similar organisations?
When looking at other councils within Kent, the average mean gender pay gap is 7.19%. The average median gender pay gap was 6.58%. Our gender pay gap is lower compared to other councils within Kent. It is also lower than the average for the country.
Council | Mean pay gap | Median pay gap |
|---|---|---|
Ashford Borough Council1 | 7.0% | 8.9% |
Canterbury City Council1 | 3.4% | 0% |
Dartford Borough Council1 | 16.1% | 20.3% |
Dover District Council1 | 5.2% | 1.8% |
Folkestone and Hythe District Council1 | 1.7% | 0% |
Gravesham Borough Council1 | 1.4% | -3.5% |
Sevenoaks District Council1 | 17.9% | 28.3% |
Swale Borough Council1 | 9.7% | 9.9% |
Thanet District Council1 | -3.5% | -15.1% |
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council1 | 11.2% | 8.3% |
Kent County Council1 | 9.7% | 12.0% |
Medway Council1 | 6.4% | 8.1% |
Kent average – local government | 7.19% | 6.58% |
Maidstone Borough Council | 2.99% | -2.78% |
Footnotes
1. gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk (2024/25 submission)
Ethnicity pay gap 2025
The ethnicity pay gap reflects the contrast in average hourly earnings between employees from minority ethnic backgrounds (i.e. non-Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and those categorised as 'White' within a workforce. This information is generally expressed as a percentage of average White employees’ earnings.
Where there is a positive percentage, this means that the average pay of a White member of staff is higher than that of an employee from an ethnic minority group. The higher the percentage, the greater the ethnicity pay gap. A negative percentage means that the average pay of the ethnic minority group is higher than that of the White group.
There is no statutory requirement to report on our ethnicity pay data and there is also no formal guidance on the methodology for calculation of the ethnicity pay gap that needs to be reported. Therefore, we continue to take the approach to mirror the legislated pay measures used for Gender Pay Gap reporting to calculate the ethnicity pay gap.
Ethnicity profile
83% of our workforce are White British and 15% are from BAME groups. We have a small percentage of 2% of employees who have not declared their ethnicity. Employees are encouraged to update their ethnicity in the HR system, and this continues to be a priority to produce better report data for ethnic minority staff.
Ethnicity pay gap data
Mean pay
White British = £18.77
BAME Employees = £18.94
The mean ethnicity pay gap at Maidstone Borough Council is -0.90%. This means that on average, employees from Black, Asian, Mixed, or other ethnic groups earn 0.90% more per hour than the average pay than White colleagues.
Median pay gap
The median ethnicity pay gap is -11.45%. This means that the median hourly rate of colleagues from a Black, Asian, Mixed, or other ethnic group is higher than the median rate of White colleagues.
Pay quartiles by ethnicity
Employee ethnicity | Upper quartile | Upper middle quartile | Lower middle quartile | Lower quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White British | 90.23% | 85.71% | 91.73% | 90.71% |
| Black, Asian, Mixed, or other ethnic group | 9.77% | 14.29% | 8.27% | 9.29% |
This data shows that White British employees make up the majority across all pay quartiles. Their representation ranges from 85.71% in the Upper Middle Quartile to 91.73% in the Lower Middle Quartile. BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) employees represent a smaller proportion in each quartile, ranging from 8.27% to 14.29%.
The highest BAME representation is seen in the Upper Middle Quartile (14.29%), while the lowest is in the Lower Middle Quartile (8.27%). This suggests that while BAME employees are present across the pay bands, they are underrepresented in all pay quartiles.
Hourly rate difference per quartile
| Ethnicity | Upper quartile | Upper middle quartile | Lower middle quartile | Lower quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAME Employees | £27.09 | £18.47 | £14.79 | £12.99 |
| White British | £29.41 | £18.57 | £14.89 | £12.62 |
| Percentage difference: | 8.21% | 0.54% | 0.67% | -2.89% |
In the Lower Quartile, BAME employees earn slightly more than White British employees, with a pay gap of -2.89%. In the Lower Middle and Upper Middle Quartiles, the gap moves towards White British employees at 0.67% and 0.54%. The biggest gap is in the Upper Quartile, where White British employees earn 8.21% more than BAME employees. This figure has reduced from 18.55% in 2024.
The data suggests that while pay is balanced in the lower and middle bands, there is a bigger gap at the highest pay levels. This reflects the underrepresentation of BAME staff in senior roles.
Bonus pay gap
Bonuses are awarded irrespective of gender or any other protected characteristic. For the council, this covers cash awards for exceptional performance and long service awards in the form of vouchers. There were 35 employees who received bonus pay.
Mean bonus pay
White British employees: £396.55
BAME employees: £420
Difference (£): -£23.45
Difference (%) -5.91%
Median bonus pay
White British employees: £500
BAME employees: £500
Difference (£): -£0
Difference (%) -0%
Ethnicity profile for bonus pay
White British employees: 85.29%
BAME employees: 14.71%
The higher mean bonus pay is due to BAME employees receiving a higher amount for the long service award, reflecting their length of service at the council.
Summary
Our current mean ethnicity pay gap is -0.90%, suggesting that BAME employees earn 0.90% more than White British employees. This does not reflect unequal pay for equivalent roles; however, the BAME representation remains lower across all pay quartiles.
The median ethnicity pay gap stands at -11.45%, meaning the midpoint hourly rate for BAME employees is higher than that of White British staff. This suggests that while BAME employees are fewer in number, those employed tend to be in higher-paying roles. That contributes to the overall positive pay gap.
What steps do we take to minimise any gender and ethnicity pay gap?
We are committed to continuous improvement in promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion. Through ongoing monitoring, policy development, and targeted actions, the Council aims to ensure fair pay and equal opportunities for all employees, regardless of gender or ethnicity.
We have several policies relating to pay that ensure transparency, fairness and equity. These include:
- job evaluation scheme (HAY) for all roles. This is a significant part of ensuring gender-neutrality in the assessment of roles as it takes no account of individuals and is purely based on the job role and its requirements
- a well-designed pay scale with no overlapping grades and a restricted number of incremental points
- formal authorisation processes for the change in pay
- a clear policy at appointment which should be at the first point of grade
- an equal pay approved market supplement policy
- enhanced shared parental pay to mirror maternity pay
- quarterly workforce report monitored by senior management team. This report includes detailed data on staff turnover, recruitment activity, exit interviews, employee relations matters, and the equalities profile
- exit interviews to gain feedback on employment experiences
- the provision of recruitment and selection training to ensure interviewers have relevant knowledge and an understanding of equalities and diversity including unconscious bias
- annual workforce equality report that reports on all protected characterises for employees
- new management development programme for aspiring managers/supervisors/team leaders that provides training to support career development
Actions
We have a clear approach to pay and reward which is well controlled.
One of the factors that can influence the gender and ethnicity pay gap is the distribution of males and females within the grades and under-representation of BAME staff, especially in higher-level positions. Therefore, the following actions are recommended:
- the recruitment processes to be monitored by the HR team to avoid any unfairness including the wording in advertisements to ensure there is no gender bias.
- continue to increase managers' awareness of 'unconscious biases as part of the recruitment and selection training.
- review the recruitment process to ensure this is completely unbiased when considering candidates for positions
- monitor and review take-up of training and development opportunities for staff from ethnic minority backgrounds
- encourage managers to consider job redesign if there are aspects of a job that prevents or stops employees applying for them on a part-time or flexible basis.
- provide training to staff on equality, diversity and inclusiveness to increase awareness and understanding of these issues within the workplace
- to encourage and remind employees to update their ethnicity and other equality data in the HR system