Press release

Government Legal Department leads on gender pay gap

Median and mean gap remain close to 0 and in favour of women.

For the fourth year in a row the Government Legal Department (GLD) has maintained a mean and median gender pay gap in favour of women. This year the department has a mean gender pay gap of -3.35% and median gender pay gap of -2.25%. by comparison last year’s figures for 2021 were reported as a mean pay gap of -2.64% and a median pay gap of -1.13%.

This places GLD as a leading Civil Service department to have a positive gender pay gap in favour of women, and as one of the largest legal organisations in the country cements the department in being a leader in relation to diversity and inclusion in the legal sector.

Of the results Treasury Solicitor and Permanent Secretary to GLD Susanna McGibbon said

”I am so pleased that we continue to have such a marginal gender pay gap. GLD has long been an organisation where women thrive and I am very proud of that. We compare well amongst Civil Service departments and even more impressively within the legal sector. I believe this demonstrates the success of putting diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business and our values.

However, we are not complacent and we will continue to pursue initiatives to reduce our pay gaps across the department.”

The positive nature of the gender pay gap is the result of a number of D&I initiatives in the department, which champions a diversity of backgrounds and opinions. This is also highlighted by the high levels of women holding the most senior positions in the department, a gender split of 60:40 women to men across the whole department and 50:50 split at Senior Civil Service (SCS) grade.

However, GLD is looking into why there is a slightly higher, albeit marginal, bonus gender pay gap which instead sits slightly in favour of men. Both the mean and media bonus gap have slightly increased from a mean of 4.37% and median of 0.00% in 2021 to a mean of 4.59% and media of 13.04%. One reason for this gap is due to bonuses given at SCS grade, which are higher than for those all grades below.

Civil Service average 2022 mean gender pay gap is 8.5% and median gender pay gap is 11.3%

GLD is responsible for delivering legal services to the government, so that it may deliver on its priorities. Our life changing law is at the heart of every Act laid in parliament and legal case involving the government and impacts the lives of citizens up and down the country.

For any enquiries email communications@governmentlegal.gov.uk

Supporting documents

Government Legal Department Gender Pay Gap Report 2022 (ODT, 866 KB)

Published 30 March 2023