Lancashire Police and Napthens respond after data reveals them to have some of the worst gender pay gaps in Preston

Last week, the Post revealed that many employers across Preston are still failing to close the gender pay gap.

April 4 was the deadline for employers across Great Britain, with more than 250 employees, to submit their 2022/23 gender pay gap reports to the UK government.

What did the data show?

Returns from more than 10,000 companies across the country show four out of five (79.4%) still pay men more than women on average, and 19 of these establishments were in Preston.

Lancashire Constabularly was revealed to have the worst gender pay gap in Preston, with women's median hourly pay being 25.2% lower than men's.

The second worst pay gap came from Krs Finance/Key, where women are paid 24.8% less, and third worst was solicitor firm Napthen’s, where women are paid 24.2% less.

What has Lancashire Police now said?

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: “Our gender pay gap demonstrates that, whilst we’ve seen improvements in female representation in different ranks and roles across both employment types, there is still plenty more to do. It also highlights the continuing need to identify the barriers that may prevent women from progressing throughout their careers and provide support to help them overcome these.

“Our strategy to reduce the gender pay gap will continue to focus on the key areas discussed in previous years: recruitment, progression, training and data analysis. Our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Board meets on a regular basis to discuss and progress workforce diversity initiatives and to encourage a greater number of women both to join the organisation and seek career progression. We continue to recruit to higher than average number of female officers and will continue to support the progression of all female staff, with the launch of a mentoring and coaching initiative and a personal and professional development course called ‘Inspire’, both delivered with assistance from the College of Policing.

“There are significant cultural and societal changes required to address some of the causes of the gender pay gap, and whilst this will take time, we are seeing positive improvements in these areas. We remain committed to our work to reduce the gender pay gap further.”

What has Napthens said?

Alexandra Hatchman, CEO at Napthens, said: "As a female leader, I’m passionate about driving this important topic forwards. It is not only a matter of equality and fairness, it is crucial for the organisational health and performance of businesses.

“Over the last 12 months we have made substantial progress. Our median pay gap has reduced by 7.8%, from 24.2% down to 16.4%; three of our last four partnership appointments are female; 67% of our overall promotions and 83% of our last four trainee cohorts were women, which demonstrates the shift in diverse talent progressing through our business.

“We know we still have more to do to close the gender pay gap and are dedicated to continuing to create an inclusive and supportive environment for the women in our firm.”