DfT: gender pay gap report and data 2022
Published 24 November 2022
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Executive summary
Transport affects everyone – it connects us with the world and brings people together across the country. Our aim as a department is to deliver effectively for the public and organisations who rely on transport and our services. We strongly believe that representing the customers and communities we serve will enable us to provide the best possible transport system to meet their needs. This includes ensuring that as an employer, we are addressing the gender pay gap (GPG).
Over the last 6 years, we have significantly reduced our gender pay gap. Disappointingly, however, we have seen a slight increase in the DfT group mean and median gender pay gap in 2021 to 2022, as well as increases in the mean GPG of DVLA and DfTc. The gender bonus gap (GBG) has also shifted in favour of men in most agencies compared with the previous year.
Structural factors continue to impact our GPG. In particular the DVLA, our largest agency, employs thousands of people in Swansea, predominantly in more junior grades, the majority of whom are women. Due to temporary changes in the workforce profile and working arrangements (and remuneration as a result) during the peak of the pandemic, the 2020 to 2021 data saw a larger than expected decrease to the DVLA GPG. As we come out of this period and return to more normal ways of working, we have subsequently seen an increase in the GPG this year, although still an overall downward trend.
Across the DfT group as a whole, roles which attract additional pay allowances, such as commercial contract management, engineering, and digital, are more likely to be occupied by men. Addressing the gender balance in these roles will require action to widen the talent pool and ensure women are attracted into these professions.
To continue to ensure the department is an employer of choice for women, our 2022 inclusion and wellbeing action plan includes a number of actions to address the GPG. These include: reviewing our senior civil servant talent pipeline to ensure talented women are identified and supported in their careers; refreshing our women’s health strategy which incorporates new menopause guidance; and continuing to design inclusive recruitment campaigns that mean we are attracting the best talent in the market.
Whilst we haven’t seen the decrease we hoped for in 2021 to 2022, I hope the efforts we are taking will ensure we continue to see an improving trajectory on GPG. Across our department and agencies, we will seek to ensure all of our jobs and career opportunities, including the most senior and well-remunerated, are attractive to women. We will stay focussed on the future, and on targeted action to improve our GPG outcomes in the long term.
Bernadette Kelly, Permanent Secretary
1. Introduction
The reporting period covers 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.
DfT has prepared this report as part of the legal requirement for public authorities to publish their gender pay gap (GPG) on an annual basis. The report outlines the department’s strategy to improve the GPG, as well as providing examples of some of the actions currently being undertaken.
Our report is also in line with the recommendations made from the Inclusive Data Taskforce report published in September 2021
What is the legislative requirement?
In 2017, the government introduced world-leading legislation 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 30 March. This includes the:
- mean and median GPG based on basic pay
- mean and median gender bonus gaps (GBG) the 12 months ending 31 March 2022
- proportion of men and women who received bonuses in the 12 months ending 31 March 2022
- proportions of men and women in each pay quartile
Organisational context
Our structure
DfT comprises a core ministerial department and 4 executive agencies: DfTc, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA).
We employ around 16,000 staff and hundreds of non-payroll workers. We have a diverse workforce across Britain occupying a wide range of roles, from policy developers to critical frontline services such as the air, marine and rail accident investigation branches, driving examiners, coastguards, engineers and marine surveyors.
Across DfT, we have over 25 professions, which range across all grades including the Senior Civil Service (SCS). The GPG report 2022 is based on data drawn from across DfT group.
Our approach
We are committed to meaningful and sustained efforts to continue to reduce our GPG. In July 2022, we launched our 3-year group DfT Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing strategy. The strategy focuses on delivering against four priorities to create and sustain a welcoming, healthy, and supportive workplace that can attract, develop and retain a diverse workforce and deliver better outcomes for all citizens. The priorities are:
- representing the communities we serve – recruiting from a diverse pool that reflects the various communities we serve and providing opportunities to progress locally
- being confidently inclusive – fostering a healthy and supportive culture where colleagues feel confident bringing the full range of their background, experiences and skills to work
- maximising potential for all – creating an empowering environment where everyone feels a sense of connection with the DfT and sees opportunities to thrive and develop their careers
- building a transport network that works for everyone – making our transport system safer, more inclusive and better for all users
2. Gender pay gap report
What does the gender pay gap mean?
GPG is a high-level snapshot of pay within an organisation and shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly large GPG, this can indicate there may be several issues to deal with, and the individual calculations may help to identify what those issues are.
In contrast, ‘equal pay’ is a more specific legal concept that deals with the pay differences between men and women carrying out comparable jobs. Men and women in comparable jobs are normally entitled to the same pay unless an employer can show differences in pay are justified – it is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman.
A GPG does not equate to the existence of an equal pay problem, albeit a GPG may be a trigger for further investigation about the reasons why the gap exists.
This report analyses our GPG figures in more detail, makes comparisons with our previous data where relevant and sets out what we are doing to close the gap at DfT.
2022 Headline figures
Gender pay gap – DfT group overall
This is the sixth year that DfT has published the GPG and the GBG figures.
To contextualise the report, we have included figures from 2017 to 2021 in our analysis.
The GPG data below shows the difference in average - mean and median - hourly pay between all men and women in the workforce. An hourly rate comparison is used to look at the pay gap as this allows for the consideration of both full-time and part-time workers.
The salary data used for the 2022 report is based on employee dates of 31 March 2022, as well as bonus pay between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022.
- Our DfT Group departmental median gender pay gap has increased by 7.1 percentage points(pp) since 2021, from 5.8% to 12.9%. Since 2017, our GPG has reduced by 9.7pp from 22.6%
- Our DfT Group departmental mean gender pay gap has increased by 2.9 percentage points since 2021, from 7.8% to 10.7%. Since 2017, our GPG has reduced by 6.2pp from 16.9%
This year’s departmental GPG closely reflects years 2018 to 2020.
Gender pay gap – individual agencies
The GPG regulations require DfT to include its 4 executive agencies in the published figures. The data included in this report include DfTc, DVLA, DVSA, MCA and VCA.
Table 1: mean and median GPG for individual agencies and DfTc since 2018
| Business unit | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DfTc mean | 7.0% | 7.9% | 6.6% | 6.1% | 6.6% |
| DfTc median | 9.0% | 9.7% | 7.7% | 7.2% | 11.7% |
| DVLA mean | 15.2% | 14.6% | 14.8% | 10.3% | 14.4% |
| DVLA median | 5.3% | 7.4% | 3.3% | 0.0% | 7.9% |
| DVSA mean | 6.2% | 6.3% | 6.5% | 2.8% | 2.0% |
| DVSA median | 2.0% | 4.4% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 4.2% |
| MCA mean | 21.2% | 19.4% | 15.5% | 18.0% | 15.6% |
| MCA median | 23.1% | 13.8% | 15.5% | 14.2% | 14.2% |
| VCA mean | 27.5% | 23.5% | 27.4% | 27.8% | 27.5% |
| VCA median | 33.5% | 28.1% | 31.3% | 30.3% | 28.6% |
| DfT Group mean | 15.6% | 13.8% | 15.2% | 7.8% | 10.7% |
| DfT Group median | 15.6 | 13.8% | 13.0% | 5.8% | 12.9% |
Gender bonus gap – DfT group overall
The GBG is the difference between mean and median average bonus payments made to women and men, expressed as a percentage of men’s bonus earnings. In 2022, the GBG increased for both mean and median in favour of men as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: mean and median GBG for DfT Group
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | 24.2% | 17.0% | -3.2% | -0.4% | 7.1% |
| Median | 18.3% | 15.0% | -7.3% | -3.4% | 8.5% |
Proportion of men and women that received a bonus – DfT Group
The percentage of men and women receiving a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 2022 were:
- Women: 84.5%
- Men: 80.9%
These proportions are similar to the figures gathered in 2021.
Gender bonus gap – individual agencies
We have included analysis of our 4 executive agencies and core ministerial department in the GBG figures below.
In 2022, the GBG increased for both mean and median in favour of men across all executive agencies as shown in Table 2.
The largest shift in the mean GBG was seen in DVSA (11.9pp increase), followed by DVLA (9.4% increase).
Table 3: mean and median GBG for individual agencies and DfTc since 2018
| Business unit | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DfTc mean | 15.4% | -1.3% | -3.1% | 0.0% | 0.7% |
| DfTc median | 17.1% | -6.2% | -9.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| DVLA mean | 12.5% | 16.1% | 11.0% | 14.5% | 23.9% |
| DVLA median | 8.8% | 16.6% | 18.2% | 17.1% | 20.2% |
| DVSA mean | -1.3% | 19.5% | 14.0% | -6.2% | 5.7% |
| DVSA median | 31.2% | -11.1% | 21.0% | -13.6% | 16.7% |
| MCA mean | 40.2% | 3.6% | 3.4% | -9.3% | -4.2% |
| MCA median | 60.9% | 0.0% | -6.5% | -62.2% | 0.0% |
| VCA mean[footnote 1] | 30.6% | 43.9% | 8.3% | ||
| VCA median[footnote 1] | 20.1% | 43.6% | 13.3% |
3. Analysis of gender pay gap
Why is there a gender pay gap?
- Women are proportionally more represented at lower grades (AA-EO), and men at higher grades (SEO and above)
- There are higher proportions of men in the top three pay quartiles, and a higher proportion of women in the bottom pay quartile
- There are higher proportions of men in most specialist roles, many of these roles in DfT offer additional pay and allowances due to market skill shortages, unsociable working hours or travel involved in the role
The percentage of men and women employed across DfT group
Overall, there are more men (54%) employed across DfT Group, except DVLA which has a higher proportion of women (60%) in their workforce. The majority of DVLA’s roles at grades AA to AO, are mostly taken up by women.
Table 4: The percentage of men and women employed across DfT group
| Organisation | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| DfTc | 56% | 44% |
| DVLA | 40% | 60% |
| DVSA | 69% | 31% |
| MCA | 62% | 38% |
| VCA | 62% | 38% |
| DfT Group | 54% | 46% |
The percentage of men and women in different grades across DfT group
A higher proportion of the women working at DfT Group (45%) work in junior roles (AA to AO) in DfT Group compared to men (27%), this is similar to 2021. This means there are more women being paid at the lower hourly rates in DfT Group. Most of the workforce in DVLA and DVSA, the two largest organisations, are at grades AA to AO.
Table 5: Percentage of men and women at each grade across DfT group
| SCS | G7/6 | HEO/SEO | EO | AA/AO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 2% | 14% | 28% | 30% | 27% |
| Women | 2% | 11% | 22% | 21% | 45% |
Proportion of men and women at each pay quartile across DfT group
The percentage of women in the first (lower) quartile has increased from 52% to 66% and reduced in the second quartile from 52% to 39%. The proportions of women at the third and fourth (upper) quartile has stayed at the same level since 2021.
Table 6: Proportion of men and women at each pay quartile across DfT group
| First (lower) | Second | Third | Fourth (upper) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women | 65.5% | 38.5% | 39.6% | 38.3% |
| Men | 34.5% | 61.5% | 60.4% | 61.7% |
Table 7: Percentage of women through the each pay quartile at DfTc and each executive agency
| Reporting organisation(s) | Lower | Lower middle | Upper middle | Upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DfTc | 51.6% | 43.5% | 42.7% | 38.6% |
| DVLA | 67.0% | 66.4% | 59.4% | 45.3% |
| DVSA | 46.9% | 25.4% | 21.8% | 28.6% |
| MCA | 53.4% | 41.8% | 33.8% | 23.0% |
| DfT Group | 65.5 | 38.5% | 39.6% | 38.3% |
Specialist and technical roles – proportion of men and women in these roles
We have people working in a variety of job roles across the country. Many of these roles require technical or specialist expertise or significant prior experience for example as a mechanic, engineer, pilot or ship’s captain in fields that are in high demand and historically dominated by men. This is reflected across the UK. Many of these roles in DfT offer additional pay allowances due to market skill shortages, unsociable working hours or travel involved in the role. These roles reflect a wider pattern across the transport sector in the UK.
These factors may influence DfT’s ability to recruit and retain women as we are sourcing candidates from a narrow talent pool of experienced, technically skilled men.
When evaluating DfT technical roles, about 9 in 10 employees in these posts are male:
- 91% of engineers are men in VCA
- 92% of marine surveyors are men in MCA
- 86% of enforcement staff are men in DVSA
- 98% of vehicle examiners are men in DVSA
- 90% of Digital, Data and Technology professionals are men in DVLA
The potential effect on the GPG is substantial given how many specialist roles exist across the DfT group. If many new starters into these roles are men, they would join DfT on a higher salary compared to women in DfT who are in non-specialist roles at the equivalent grade.
Table 8: proportion of men and women in specialist roles across DfT group
| Job role | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle examiners, DVSA | 98% | 2% |
| Marine Surveyor, MCA | 92% | 8% |
| Engineers, VCA | 91% | 9% |
| Enforcement, DVSA | 86% | 14% |
| Coastguard, MCA | 75% | 25% |
| Driving examiner, DVSA | 74% | 26% |
| Aeronautical, MCA | 72% | 28% |
| Operational and Security, DfT(C) | 64% | 36% |
| Non-operational, DVLA | 57% | 43% |
| Policy and Projects, DfT(C) | 56% | 44% |
| Corporate, DfT(C) | 55% | 45% |
| Admin, DVSA | 53% | 47% |
| Other and Unknown, DfT(C) | 51% | 49% |
| Administrator, MCA | 45% | 55% |
| Admin, VCA | 42% | 58% |
| Operational, DVLA | 35% | 65% |
4. Analysis of gender bonus gap
The mean and median GBG shifted more toward favouring men this year compared to last year in all reported agencies. The largest shift in the mean was seen in DVSA (11.9pp increase), followed by DVLA (9.4% increase). Both organisations have more men in senior roles. Previous analysis has found that higher monetary amounts tend to be awarded to those in higher grades.
Table 9: mean and median GBG for DfTc and each executive agency
| Business unit | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DfTc mean | 15.4% | -1.3% | -3.1% | 0.0% | 0.7% |
| DfTc median | 17.1% | -6.2% | -9.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| DVLA mean | 12.5% | 16.1% | 11.0% | 14.5% | 23.9% |
| DVLA median | 8.8% | 16.6% | 18.2% | 17.1% | 20.2% |
| DVSA mean | -1.3% | 19.5% | 14.0% | -6.2% | 5.7% |
| DVSA median | 31.2% | -11.1% | 21.0% | -13.6% | 16.7% |
| MCA mean | 40.2% | 3.6% | 3.4% | -9.3% | -4.2% |
| MCA median | 60.9% | 0.0% | -6.5% | -62.2% | 0.0% |
| VCA mean[footnote 1] | 30.6% | 43.9% | 8.3% | ||
| VCA median[footnote 1] | 20.1% | 43.6% | 13.3% |
DfT moved to an in-year reward bonus policy, called Local Recognition Awards (LRA) in 2018. The policy is designed to allow managers and staff to nominate and offer awards for a wide range of activities and behaviours to local business priorities. The policy allows managers and staff to nominate and offer awards for a wide range of activities and behaviours in line with local business priorities and the value of these is no longer linked to the grade of the recipient. However, year-on-year variations are still expected.
Regular equality monitoring is carried out to ensure that gender is not a statistically significant marker of the likelihood of receiving or values of awards. It is difficult to draw out exact causes of the change to the overall GBG as they are formed of combinations of actions in the different organisations.
The figures provided show the GBG in line with methodology set out by the Government Equalities Office (GEO)
5. Targeted action to reduce and close the gender pay gap
What have DfT done since 2021 to address our GPG?
As a department we have:
- Continued to support women in their development by promoting both internal and cross government inclusive talent programmes including ‘Women into Leadership’, a scheme to support potential female leaders (predominantly driving and traffic examiners) to increase self-awareness and self confidence and the programme ‘Beyond Boundaries’, a cross-government emerging talent scheme
- Promoted apprenticeships across DfT. In DVSA, for example, there are 50 internal female apprentices, 6 of whom are in specialist roles that attract higher pay allowances, and roles which have typically been held by men
- Increased gender attraction for the majority of DfT roles and encourage the levelling of the playing field in our recruitment campaigns through diverse panels, inclusive assessment methods and flexible interviews
- Increased the number of women recruited into senior roles
- Continued the work to increase female representation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) professions by building knowledge and networks at ‘women in STEM’ conferences and considering the ability for flexible working arrangements within our most technical roles
- Continued to transform our digital services within DVLA, which over time will see a change in the workforce profile, reducing the GPG.
As our pay is underpinned by a robust job evaluation and grading system, pay alone will not narrow the DfT GPG. However, we do know that for historic reasons males are more likely to be higher in pay ranges than females. Therefore, we should and proactively do use annual pay awards to address the gender pay gap by targeting progression (accelerating staff towards the top of their pay bands) and range shortening (lowering the gaps between minimum and maximum salaries for each grade).
The 2021 public sector pay pause meant that there was no opportunity to target these areas in 2021 to 2022. Looking forward, as part of our 2022 to 2023 Pay Awards we have prioritised both of these elements and indicative analysis as part of our equality impacts assessments indicates that we will see some further GPG narrowing as a result, particularly at SCS where flexibility to target highest performers, lower in grade led to additional payments to a significant number of female SCS.
How will DfT address 2022 figures with the aim to narrow and close the gap?
We are committed to ensuring that women working at DfT are given equal opportunities. As part of our Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing strategy, we will take action to close the GPG under each of these headings:
Representing the communities we serve:
- DfTc will create a job share and part time recruitment guide and review job design processes to ensure jobs are suitably scoped for part time and job share roles. We will also redesign our current job advert template and diversity statement to ensure they are accessible and inclusive
- DVLA will take action to target gender balance at all grades and professional roles. A significantly higher percentage of women are in administrative roles where most of our staff are, and this will prevent us achieving 0% gap unless addressed. We will work towards increasing male representation in the AA to EO grades in the operational areas. We will review the impact of part time working on job applications into DVLA’s higher paid roles and monitor exit data and analyse trends in relation to gender and age
- DVSA will target increasing female representation in technical roles across departments such as digital and vehicle testing. We will explore greater flexibility and inclusivity in the promotion of vacancies, including being more open to different working patterns, particularly in our technical and operational roles
- MCA will review job and organisational design to value leadership and management skills at least as much as technical skills, therefore trying to balance challenges caused by “fishing” mainly in a male dominated technical pool
- VCA will ensure recruitment adverts use media platforms targeting females, attend ‘women in STEM’ conferences to build networks and consider the ability for flexible working arrangements within technical roles, which may make them appear more attractive and accessible to females, particularly in relation to work/life balance, for example, caring responsibilities
Being confidently inclusive:
- DfTc will encourage our networks and other communication channels to circulate opportunities for women within DfTc such as development programmes and flexible working options. Opportunities will also be identified to better facilitate the career growth of women in DfT and across the wider civil service
- DVLA will continue to move people closer to their pay maxima, particularly at SEO grade and above where there are still salary gaps in favour of men. We will create a comprehensive gender pay dashboard for quarterly review by the executive team, a summary of which to be annually on the agenda for agency board. We will carry out a detailed gender pay gap impact assessment on all projects to avoid any increases and to make recommendations for how we may enable a reduction in GPG. Finally, we will create a 5-year strategic workforce plan and will build GPG forecast modelling into that process
- DVSA will conduct additional analysis to better understand the impact of deputising on allowances, awarding of LRAs, promotions/downgrading, and roles in receipt of allowances to eliminate potential bias
- MCA will consider how to provide more flexibility for part time and job share roles within the operations directorates
- VCA will ask line managers to nominate female employees to attend the Momentum Task Orientation Negotiation training programme, as well as run further success profiles and science and engineering framework training sessions to ensure staff are fully supported
Maximising potential for all:
- DfTc will actively promote departmental and cross-government talent schemes, particularly amongst under-represented groups with the support of the staff networks. We will also strengthen moderation processes within talent programmes and test for any potential adverse impact experienced by under-represented communities, including refreshing the appeals process. We will use our staff and wellbeing networks to gain insight from DfT employees on their feelings towards gender equality in the department and areas for improvement
- DVLA will work to minimise barriers where possible to promotion and attraction for non-operational roles such as those in the digital directorate
- DVSA will prioritise progression & pipeline initiatives to support women into more middle grade (SEO/HEO) roles. We will focus on greater promotion of apprenticeships, particularly for technical roles and promote the next round of Women into Leadership programme
- MCA will support networks to better promote current opportunities such as development programmes and flexible working options. Opportunities to better facilitate the career growth of women will also be explored
- VCA will develop a sponsorship scheme for final year university students, offering work placement schemes during term breaks as another route to introducing technical employees at more junior grades, as well as pilot a career development scheme, where staff have career development conversations with line managers and human resources
We will also continue to leverage all opportunities within annual pay awards to move all staff up their pay ranges (where applicable) and shorten pay ranges.
6. Declaration
We confirm that data reported by the Department for Transport 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.