Transparency data

2022 Gender Pay Gap report

Published 12 January 2024

1. Introduction

• the government introduced legislation in 2017 that made it statutory for organisations with 250 or more employees to report annually on their GPG. Government departments are covered by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017, which came into force on 31 March 2017
• these regulations underpin the Public Sector Equality Duty and require relevant organisations to annually publish their GPG by 31 March
• this report outlines the Agency’s strategy to improve the GPG, as well as providing examples of some of the actions currently being undertaken

1.1 Organisational context

Our Structure

The Agency is an executive agency of DSIT, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) at the time covered by this report.

We support a thriving space sector in the UK, which generates an annual income of £17.5 billion and employs 48,800 people across the country. We have offices in London, Swindon and Harwell and have a diverse workforce occupying a wide range of roles. These include scientists, engineers, commercial experts, project managers and policy officials.

The Agency follows the normal Civil Service grading structure, and terms and conditions (including pay) reflect the parent department (BEIS) terms and conditions. On 31 March 2022 the workforce was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.

The Agency is undergoing a significant Transformation Programme which will change the structure of the organisation to match its delivery priorities. These are:

• launch: supporting satellite launch services from UK spaceports

• sustainability: taking a leading role in keeping space safe and accessible now and in the future

• discovery: supporting space science and exploration missions

• innovation: investing in bold new technologies

• levelling-up: boosting space investment and jobs across the country

• Earth observation: studying our planet to drive discovery and tackle climate change

• low-Earth orbit: delivering vital everyday satellite services

• inspiration: inspiring new space customers, investors and the next generation

Our Approach

The Agency is fully committed to having a truly diverse workforce and a culture of openness and inclusivity to help us deliver better outcomes for the community we serve. Our aim is to mainstream the delivery of inclusion by building on and expanding on the protected characteristics to deliver for all our people. We adopt a broader definition of diversity to include socio-economic, work experience and geographic backgrounds.

We are committed to closing the gender pay gap. Our approach focuses on four thematic areas: reporting, recruitment, retention & transparency, and shifting culture. This aligns with our Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing Strategy, which is in its third year. Progress on our Gender Pay Gap action plan will be monitored regularly.

In delivering our strategy, our vision is to harness the power of difference to build the right capabilities, processes, and culture so that our people can thrive and help create a great place to work

Our strategy focuses on delivering against the following four priorities:

• to be an employer of choice and a great place to work - championing space and building an Agency where talented people choose to work and stay

• to have appropriate representation of all groups at all levels of the Agency - an Agency that is representative of the communities that it serves and everyone irrespective of background is able to fulfill their potential

• to create a healthy working environment for all – promoting a wellness culture so that everyone is able to achieve a healthy work-life balance

• to build a culture that promotes respect, fairness, collaboration and innovation – ensuring that our staff work in a safe and healthy environment and are treated with dignity and respect

We use data-driven and evidence-led approaches informed by both the feedback and personal experiences of our people and quantitative data collected through our People Survey, to drive progress and transparently measure success, maintaining our focus on achieving key priorities outlined in the Declaration on Government Reform.

We work collaboratively with our Diversity and Inclusion Champions and Staff Networks, recognising the benefits of being inclusive and sharing knowledge, experience, and insights so the Agency is seen and experienced as a visibly inclusive employer.

We have a dedicated Diversity and Inclusion and Wellbeing team; as members of the Cross Government Head of Diversity and Diversity Leads Group, we are committed to being at the forefront of initiatives creating a forward thinking, diverse and truly inclusive UK Space Agency.

Our efforts on diversity and inclusion fully align with the approach set out in the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

2. Gender Pay Gap Report

The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate that there may be a number of issues to deal with.

The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman.

Hourly pay is calculated by taking the March 2022 annual salary for each employee in scope, dividing by 12 to get the monthly total (plus/minus additional pay elements such as bonuses or salary sacrifice). March hours are calculated as 30.44 (average number of days in a month) divided by 7 (days in a week). The GPG compliant hourly wage is then the March pay figure divided by the March hours figure.

The figures are all based on the Agency’s return for the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES) 2022.

2.1 Table for UK Space Agency

Reporting year	Pay Gap: Mean	Pay gap: Median	Bonus gap: Mean	Bonus gap: Median
2022	10.0%	16.1%	27.7%	20.8%
2021	10.4%	18.0%	-8.4%	8.0%
2020	11.9%	17.9%	-5.0%	-20.0%
2019	11.0%	17.0%	-18.0%	-22.0%

2.2 Percentage of men and women receiving a bonus

Reporting year	Percentage of individuals receiving a bonus: Men	Percentage of individuals receiving a bonus: Women
2022	67.4%	66.7%

2.3 Distribution of women through each pay quartile

Reporting year	Percentage of women in lower pay quartile	Percentage of women in lower middle pay quartile	Percentage of women in upper middle pay quartile	Percentage of women in upper pay quartile
2022	64.6%	50.0%	47.7%	40.0%

2.4 Workforce analysis by grade grouping

Grade (decreasing seniority)	Number of men (% of total male workforce)	Number of women (% of total female workforce)	% of women in the grade
SCS	6 (4.6%)	1 (0.8%)	14.3%
Grade 6/7	62 (48.1%)	53 (40.2%)	46.1%
SEO/HEO	55 (42.6%)	68 (51.5%)	55.3%
EO	6 (4.7%)	9 (6.7%)	60.0%
AA/AO	0 (0%)	1 (0.8%)	100%
Total	129	132	50.5%

This table shows the distribution of men and women across grades for the UK Space Agency at 31 March 2022.

2.5 Total staff gender split

Year	Number of employees	% Female	% Male
2022	261	50.5%	49.5%
2021	256	52%	48%
2020	238	47%	53%
2019	187	47%	53%

This table shows the gender split for the whole Agency for the last four years.

3. Analysis of pay gap

• the UK Space Agency is tied to the BEIS grading and pay award each year. This includes professional allowances and enhancements
• SCS (Senior Civil Service) pay, including bonus awards, is controlled centrally by the Cabinet Office. With low numbers of staff in the Agency’s SCS which attracts the greatest pay (and bonuses), the gender imbalance at this level contributes significantly to the overall gender pay gap for the Agency
• both the mean and median gender pay gaps have reduced slightly this year compared to previous years
• the continuing gap is mostly likely due to the gender split across grades (including SCS) which shows a greater proportion of female staff at lower grades (and therefore lower pay ranges)

4. Analysis of the bonus gap

The Agency follows the BEIS in-year award scheme which provides for quarterly bonus awards of either cash (up to £800) or vouchers (up to £100), up to a maximum of £2,000 per person per year, agreed by directorate panels each quarter.

SCS (Senior Civil Service) pay, including bonus awards, is controlled centrally by the Cabinet Office. With low numbers of staff in the Agency’s SCS which attracts the greatest pay and bonuses, the gender imbalance at this level contributes significantly to the overall gender bonus gap for the Agency.

Both the mean and median bonus gap has increased this year.

There are no specific controls built into the in-year award scheme, and nominations are encouraged from across all staff. However, awards are checked each year for consistency, fairness and diversity trends.

5. Targeted action to reduce and close the Gender Pay Gap

Addressing the gender pay gap requires a holistic and multi-faceted approach. We have already begun work with our stakeholders to identify the issues or barriers and have developed an action plan to enable us to begin to narrow the gap.

5.1 What we have achieved in the last year

Reporting

To create greater gender and intersectional diversity in all grade bands within the Agency:

• encouraged self-reporting through HR workshops and staff inductions
• diversity dashboards are now released regularly to the senior leadership team and wider stakeholder groups to give a better understanding of the makeup of our workforce. This is aimed at ensuring that gaps are identified and that appropriate steps are taken to integrate D&I into all business processes and practices

Recruitment

To increase transparency of recruitment process and opportunities:

• in-house recruitment training is available to all recruiting managers. This is aimed at ensuring that recruitment campaigns are conducted in line with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles
• all job adverts include gender neutral language as standard (alongside other inclusive language)
• EOIs and temporary cover opportunities are now openly advertised by default
• support and assistance offered to all UK Space Agency staff returning to work following a break (eg, career break, maternity, or adoption leave)
• continued to promote diverse panel members for all interviews. This is to ensure inclusive & diverse outcomes for recruitment campaigns

Retention & Transparency

To facilitate the retention of women including those returning from maternity or longer-term leave:

• developed and implemented a Hybrid Working policy, ensuring that it is consistently applied across the Agency
• developed and implemented the UK Space Agency Menopause Policy and UK Space Agency Financial Wellbeing Policy. We are also helping our staff to thrive through a range of wider flexible and family friendly policies such as Shared Parental Leave policy
• conducted an independent Line Manager Capability review and delivered appropriate interventions to help address the issues identified. The interventions include a suite of learning and development opportunities to build and improve line manager capability so that they are equipped to effectively manage and lead diverse teams
• promoted a range of cross-governmental talent programmes such as the Interdepartmental Talent Programme and Crossing Thresholds mentoring programme for women
• we have improved the diversity of our Executive team. At the time of reporting (rather than the period covered by the report) four of our directors are female and some directors are from other underrepresented groups

Shifting Culture

To improve the lived experience and culture within the Agency, measured through People survey results and engagement with the Women’s Network (including appointing senior champions and holding events):

• conducted an independent review on Bullying, Harassment, and Discrimination and the overall culture of the Agency
• developed and implemented interventions through our Respect at Work campaigns to help improve the experiences of staff at work. The interventions include: the UK Space Agency Standards of Behaviour Policy, UK Space Agency Respectful Behaviour Policy and UK Space Agency Respect at Work Charter
• promoting and encouraging staff to complete the Civil Service Mandatory Training (including the new training on D&I - Civil Service Expectations)
• upskilling staff to effectively undertake People and Equality Impact Assessments and where necessary, put in place appropriate mitigations

5.2 What we will be doing going forward

• refresh our People Strategy as well as the supporting strategies: Learning and Development and Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing Strategies
• introduce D&I and Wellbeing objectives as part of our Performance Development Management process
• we will ensure that our transformation programme does not reduce gender, ethnicity or other diversity characteristics in the workforce. All changes with people implications will be impact assessed and appropriate mitigations put in place
• we will continue to encourage self-reporting across a range of diversity dimensions and develop a clearer picture of the makeup of our workforce. We will put processes in place to ensure greater transparency in how D&I data is communicated
• we will identify gaps in our D&I data and develop feasible plans to address them
• learning and development opportunities will continue to be promoted across all grades. Their effectiveness will be continuously monitored
• we will integrate D&I into business processes and systems such as ensuring continued compliance with the requirements of the 2018 Accessibility Regulations and improving the capability and understanding of the Public Sector Equality Duty in the Agency. We will utilise data to improve inclusion and diversity outcomes for all
• the Agency will continue to role model for the space sector and encourage and support gender diversity, through soft and hard powers eg, ensuring grants are equitable
• we will build on the Respect at Work campaign and create a workplace that has a positive culture and is psychologically safe

6. Declaration

We confirm that data reported by the UK Space Agency is accurate and has been calculated according to the requirements and methodology set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017.

Chloe Sowter, People Director, UK Space Agency