Transparency data

Environment Agency: pay gap 2023

Updated 25 March 2024

Foreword

The Environment Agency (EA) exists to:

• help society adapt to environmental challenges
• improve and protect the quality of our air, land, and water as well as the communities we serve

We work together with local, national, and global partners. We strive to make the right decisions today, for the people, wildlife, and environment of tomorrow.

Through our people strategy we aim to place equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at the heart of all we do. We are committed to becoming a genuinely inclusive organisation which reflects the diversity of the communities we serve.

Our colleagues have told us what they love about working here:

• the ability to transform places and people’s lives
• the stability of our employment
• our sense of purpose and connection at work
• our aspiration to be a life enhancing organisation where our people can feel confident bringing their best self to work

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy aligns with the Defra group equality, diversity and inclusion strategy 2020-2024. This includes our ambition to eliminate all our pay gaps.

In 2022 to 2023, the mean gender pay gap is in favour of women for the first time, having been reduced from 0.1% to -0.3%. Since reporting began in 2017, we have seen an overall decrease of the gap by 2.9 percentage points (pp).

We are pleased to say that there has also been a decrease in the ethnicity pay gap (3.8%) and the disability pay gap (1.3%), which have reduced by 0.1pp and 1.3pp respectively.

The sexual orientation pay gap (7.6%) has increased by 1pp. The faith and belief pay gap continues to be negative at -2.5% favouring those who declared a faith or belief.

Whilst our pay gaps are generally lower than other organisations of similar sizes, that gives us no cause for complacency. As part of our wider commitment to fairness and equity to all our staff, we are working to understand and address reasons for the pay gaps and to actively close them.

Through our Strategic Workforce Plan, published in June of 2023, we are integrating EDI throughout with the aim of bridging the gap between our current and future workforce.

Alan Lovell DL – Chair

Philip Duffy – Chief Executive

Introduction

The Environment Agency (EA) employed 12,468 people as of 31 March 2023. Each year the EA publishes reports on pay gaps related to:

• gender
• disability
• ethnicity
• faith and belief
• sexual orientation

You can read more information about our workforce diversity in our equality statement.

Understanding the key definitions of a pay gap

A pay gap is the difference between the average pay between one group of people compared to another in the organisation. Pay gap is different to equal pay, which is about the difference in the actual earnings between groups doing equal work or work of equal value.

This report measures full pay relevant employee pay gaps. It does not include employees on reduced or nil pay, for example if they are on parental leave or sick leave receiving half pay.

11,985 full pay relevant employees were included in this report, which includes part-time employees as the report relates to hourly pay and not contracted hours. Pay gap calculations are accurate as far as possible based on diversity declarations.

To help you understand this report, here are some definitions relating to pay gap.

Ordinary hourly rate

The ordinary hourly rate includes:

• basic pay
• allowances
• shift premium pay

It does not include:

• employees on maternity leave, long term sick leave, or other types of reduced pay
• overtime

The calculation for the ordinary hourly rate uses contractual weekly hours. This compares employees’ hourly pay, regardless of whether they work full-time or part-time.

Mean and median hourly pay gaps

The mean or average hourly pay is calculated by adding together all the hourly pay rates from full pay employees and dividing by the number of included employees for both men and women.

The mean or average pay gap is the difference between the mean hourly rate of full-pay relevant employees from a select characteristic (for example, women) and that of full-pay relevant employees (for example, men). This would be the opposite group across the whole organisation, and does not consider grade, department, or type of role.

The median is the middle value if all hourly pay values were ordered from lowest to highest. The median (or middle point) pay gap is the difference between the median hourly rate of pay of full-pay relevant employees (for example, women) and that of full-pay relevant employees (for example, men). This would be the opposite group across the whole organisation and does not consider grade or department.

Mean and median bonus gaps

Bonuses refer to one-off payments to reward performance that is paid as either:

• part of the annual pay award as a proportion of basic pay or
• throughout the year as either cash or gift vouchers

In the EA this includes Local Recognition Awards and unconsolidated pay awards. Some bonus payments such as end of year performance awards are pro-rated for part time workers. This can influence bonus pay gaps.

The mean (or average) bonus value is found by adding all bonus values together and dividing the total by how many people were paid.

The median is the middle value if all bonuses were ordered from smallest to largest.

Pay quartiles

Pay quartiles are obtained by ordering all relevant full-pay employee hourly pay from the highest to the lowest value and dividing the list into 4 equal groups.

The quartiles are:

• upper quartile (highest pay)
• upper middle quartile
• lower middle quartile
• lower quartile (lowest pay)

This provides an indication of where people from each diversity characteristic are placed in the organisation.

Gender Pay Gap

The EA recognises gender is a complex topic and people may not always directly identify with a set gender.

For the purposes of this report only the biological sex of men and women, or male and female individuals is included in gender pay gap calculations. This is in line with broader gender pay gap reporting.

As of 31 March 2023, women represented 45.3% of the EA’s workforce, totalling (5,642).

Table 1: percentage representation of women and men working in EA (March 2023)

Gender	Proportion of workforce
Women	45%
Men	55%

Ordinary gender pay gap

The EA mean gender pay gap in 2023 is -0.3% in favour of women compared to a 0.1% gender pay gap in favour of men in 2022. The EA mean gender pay gap is significantly lower than the Civil Service Pay Gap (8.1%).

The EA gender pay gap is low in comparison to other organisations and the national average hourly pay gap. However more work needs to be done to achieve better gender equality both:

• across the organisation
• within specific job families where imbalance in gender representation can lead to gender pay gaps

Table 2: comparison of the mean and median gender pay gap for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Mean	Median
2020	1.4%	-0.8%
2021	1.4%	-0.9%
2022	0.1%	0%
2023	-0.3%	0%

Across the pay quartiles women are underrepresented in the lowest and highest quartiles. Representation of women in all quartiles has increased in the highest quartile from 41.2% in 2022 to 42.6% in 2023.

Table 3: comparison of how women were represented across each quartile in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Quartiles	2020	2021	2022	2023
Lower quartile	38.1%	35.5%	39.2%	39.6%
Lower-middle	45.7%	26.4%	47.9%	48.5%
Upper-middle	46.6%	36%	44.9%	47.9%
Upper quartile	37.7%	44.8%	41.2%	42.6%

Representation of women within the higher grades in the organisation is increasing and women now make up 47.4% of higher grades. The increased representation of women in the middle and upper quartiles and the highest representation of men in the lowest quartile (60.4%) has contributed to the widening of the gender pay gap.

Bonus gender pay gap

In 2023, there was a decrease in bonus payments with 83.2% of male staff receiving bonuses and 80.5% of female staff receiving bonuses.

Table 4: comparison of the percentage of male and female employees who received a bonus in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Male	Female
2020	85.7%	85%
2021	89.4%	90.6%
2022	90.6%	89.3%
2023	83.2%	80.5%

The mean bonus pay gap (8.7%) has increased by 0.8pp since 2022. Larger proportions of women (26.9%) work part time in comparison to men (6.9%) which could contribute to the mean bonus pay gap.

There is no difference between the median bonus pay gap value for men and women.

Table 5: comparison of the mean and median gender bonus gap for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Mean	Median
2020	6.2%	0.7%
2021	5.6%	0%
2022	7.9%	0%
2023	8.7%	0%

Definition of gender

Although the term ‘gender’ can be inclusive of multiple gender identities, legislation states that the gender pay gap is the difference in average earnings between men and women.

Gender pay gap reporting is a legal requirement. We use the format set out in government guidance, which indicates that employers should take gender information from payroll or HR records. The EA gender pay gap report is based on the information we hold on our HR records.

Disability pay gap

As of 31 March 2023, 89.6% of EA employees made a disability declaration. 15% of our workforce (1,865 people) declared they had a disability or a long-term health condition.

Across the Defra group disability representation is 16.8%. In the wider Civil Service 15.8% of people reported having a disability.

Table 6: percentage representation of disability declarations (March 2023)

Disability declaration	Proportion of workforce
Yes	15%
No	75%
Would prefer not to say	5%
Not declared	5%

Ordinary disability pay gap

The EA mean disability pay gap is currently 1.3%, which is a decrease of 1.3pp from 2022. The median disability gap remains consistent from 2022 at 0%.

Table 7: comparison of the mean and median disability pay gap for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Mean	Median
2020	1.5%	0.4%
2021	2%	1.3%
2022	2.6%	0%
2023	1.3%	0%

Across the pay quartiles, representation of disabled people has decreased in the lowest quartile, from 14.9% in 2022 to 13.9% in 2023 and in the third quartile from 15.7% to 15.3%.

However, there has been a 0.7pp increase in disabled representation in the highest quartile from 13.9% in 2022 to 14.6% in 2023. The highest quartile represents the 25% highest earners in the EA.

Table 8: comparison of how people with disabilities were represented across each quartile in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Quartiles	2020	2021	2022	2023
Lower quartile	13.9%	17.3%	14.9%	13.9%
Lower-middle	14.8%	15.6%	16.6%	16.7%
Upper-middle	15.9%	14.6%	15.7%	15.3%
Upper quartile	14.2%	11.9%	13.9%	14.6%

Bonus disability pay gap

In 2023, 87.1% of staff with a disability received bonuses compared to 82.5% of staff without a disability.

Table 9: comparison of the percentage of disabled, non-disabled and those who did not declare, who received a bonus in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Group	2020	2021	2022	2023
Disabled	89.5%	91.4%	91.9%	87.1%
Non-disabled	86%	90.6%	91.9%	82.5%
Not known	75.3%	81.9%	78.6%	69.9%

The mean disability bonus pay gap is now -3.1% in favour of those who have declared a disability. This has increased from the previous year by 5.2pp.

There is no difference between the median disability bonus figure for people who have declared a disability and those who have not declared a disability.

Table 10: comparison of the mean and median disability bonus gap for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Mean	Median
2020	2.9%	0%
2021	4.8%	0%
2022	2.1%	0%
2023	-3.1%	0%

Definition of Disability

You are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

Definitions of ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’:

• ‘substantial’ is more than minor or trivial (for example, it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed)
• ‘long-term’ means 12 months or more (for example, a breathing condition that develops because of a lung infection)

Progressive conditions

A progressive condition is one that gets worse over time. People with progressive conditions can be classed as disabled.

However, you automatically meet the disability definition under the Equality Act 2010 from the day you are diagnosed with:

• HIV infection
• cancer
• multiple sclerosis

Ethnicity Pay Gap

As of 31 March 2023, 96.5% of EA employees made an ethnicity declaration. 5.3% of the workforce (661 people) declared being from a black, asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background.

Table 11: percentage representation of ethnicity declarations (March 2023)

Ethnicity declaration	Proportion of workforce
BAME	5%
White	91%
Would prefer not to say	3%
Not declared	1%

BAME representation in the EA has slightly increased year on year since 2016, with the largest increase of 0.7pp between 2022 and 2023. Ethnic minority representation across the Defra group is at 7.5%, whilst representation within the wider Civil Service stands at 15.4%.

Ordinary ethnicity pay gap

The EA mean ethnicity pay gap is 3.9% and has reduced from the previous year by 0.1pp. The median pay gap (7.8%) has also decreased by 2.5pp in 2023.

Table 12: comparison of the mean and median ethnicity pay gap for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Mean	Median
2020	4.1%	11.3%
2021	5.1%	16.7%
2022	4%	10.3%
2023	3.9%	7.8%

Across all quartiles, ethnic minority representation has increased. Compared to the previous year there has been an increase of:

• 0.4pp in the upper quartile
• 1pp in the upper middle quartile

However, ethnic minority groups are still underrepresented in the upper quartile.

Table 13: comparison of how BAME employees were represented across each quartile in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Quartiles	2020	2021	2022	2023
Lower quartile	4.8%	3.4%	5.1%	5.7%
Lower-middle	4.7%	2.4%	5%	5.6%
Upper-middle	4.3%	6%	4.3%	5.3%
Upper quartile	3.6%	6.1%	3.9%	4.3%

Bonus ethnicity pay gap

In 2023, 66.8% of BAME staff received bonuses compared with 82.7% of white staff.

Table 14: comparison of the percentage of BAME, white and those who did not declare, who received a bonus in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Ethnicity	2020	2021	2022	2023
BAME	78.1%	87.5%	85.9%	66.8%
White	85.6%	90%	90.2%	82.7%
Not known	91.9%	91.5%	92.4%	86.8%

The mean ethnicity bonus gap widened from 7.7% in 2022 to 18.1% in 2023.

There is no difference in the median bonus gap value for ethnic minority and white employees.

Table 15: comparison of the mean and median ethnicity bonus gap for 2022, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Mean	Median
2020	3.5%	0%
2021	6.4%	0%
2022	7.7%	0%
2023	18.1%	0%

Definition of ethnicity

In the Equality Act, race can mean your colour, or your nationality (including your citizenship). It can also mean your ethnic or national origins, which may not be the same as your current nationality. For example, you may have Chinese national origins and be living in Britain with a British passport.

Race also covers ethnic and racial groups. This means a group of people who all share the same protected characteristic of ethnicity or race.

A racial group can be made up of 2 or more distinct racial groups, for example:

• black Britons
• British Asians
• British Sikhs
• British Jews
• Romany Gypsies
• Irish Travellers

Faith and belief pay gap

As of 31 March 2022, 82% of EA employees made a faith and belief declaration.

78% of people in Defra group and 70.6% of people in the wider Civil Service made a faith and belief declaration.   

37% of our employees (4,598 people) stated they follow a faith or belief. 45% of employees stated they did not follow a faith or belief.

The largest faith and belief groups in the EA were Christian (30.6%).

Table 16: percentage representation of faith and belief declarations (March 2023)

Faith and belief declaration	Proportion of workforce
Faith or belief	37%
No faith or belief	45%
Would prefer not to say	11%
Not declared	7%

Ordinary faith and belief pay gap

The EA faith and belief mean pay gap is -2.5% in favour of people who declared they have a faith or belief. This figure has widened by 0.3pp from the previous year.

The median faith and belief pay gap is 0%. This means there is no difference in the median pay gap between people who declare a faith or belief and those who do not.

Table 17: comparison of the mean and median faith and belief pay gap for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Mean	Median
2020	-2.5%	-4.7%
2021	-1.8%	-0.1%
2022	-2.2%	0%
2023	-2.5%	0%

The highest number of people who declared a faith and belief (41.1%) are in the upper quartile. The highest number of people who declared that they did not have a faith and belief (47.8%) are in the upper middle quartile.

Table 18: comparison of how people with a faith or belief were represented across each quartile in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Quartile	2020	2021	2022	2023
Lower quartile	38.6%	44.4%	38.8%	35.9%
Lower-middle	38.2%	44.6%	36.5%	36.5%
Upper-middle	38.9%	37.7%	38.2%	35.9%
Upper quartile	43.5%	31.4%	41.9%	41.1%

Bonus faith and belief pay gap

In 2023 bonuses were received by:

• 84.8% of staff who declared they had a faith or belief
• 80.6% of staff who have declared they have no faith or belief received bonuses

Table 19: comparison of the percentage of employees who either declared a faith or belief, no faith or belief and those who did not declare a faith or a belief, who received a bonus

Group	2020	2021	2022	2023
Declared faith or belief	87.8%	91.4%	92.1%	84.8%
No faith or belief	84.3%	89.7%	89.4%	80.6%
Not known	83.4%	87.1%	87.3%	79.6%

The mean faith and belief bonus gap has widened from -5.6% in 2022 to -6.8% this year, an increase of 1.2pp.

There is no difference in the median faith and belief bonus gap between people who declare a faith and those who do not have a faith or belief.

Table 20: comparison of the mean and median faith and belief bonus gap for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Mean	Median
2020	1.3%	0.7%
2021	0.7%	0%
2022	-5.6%	0%
2023	-6.8%	0%

Definition of belief

The Equality Act defines ‘belief’ to include any religious or philosophical belief and includes a lack of a particular belief.

The definition of a belief need not include faith or worship of a god or gods, but it must affect how a person lives their life or perceives the world.   

A philosophical belief must be genuinely held and be more than an opinion.

It must be:

• substantial
• serious
• apply to an important aspect of human life or behaviour

A belief must also be worthy of respect in a democratic society and not affect other people’s fundamental rights.

Sexual orientation pay gap

As of 31 March 2022, 84.5% of Environment Agency employees made a sexual orientation declaration.

80% of people in Defra group and 71.8% of people in wider Civil Service made a sexual orientation declaration.

Table 21: percentage representation of sexual orientation declarations (March 2023)

Sexual orientation declaration	Proportion of workforce
Heterosexual	80%
Lesbian, gay, bisexual or other sexual orientation	4%
Would prefer not to say	9%
Not declared	7%

4.7% of EA employees declared being lesbian, gay, bisexual or other sexual orientation (LGBO). 7.2% of people in Defra group and 6.4% of people in the wider Civil Service declared being LGBO.

Our LGBO pay gap analysis does not include trans individuals. This is because gender reassignment is a separate protected characteristic in the Equality Act.

Ordinary sexual orientation pay gap

The EA LGBO pay gap is 7.6%, which is an increase of 1pp from 2022. The median pay gap figure has also increased by 2.5pp to 20.7%.

Table 22: comparison of the mean and median sexual orientation pay gap for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Mean	Median
2020	7.7%	18.3%
2021	7.1%	20.9%
2022	6.6%	18.2%
2023	7.6%	20.7%

The percentage of LGBO employees has increased in all quartiles:

• 1pp increase in lowest quartile
• 1.7pp increase in the lower middle quartile
• 0.3pp in the upper middle quartile
• 0.6pp in the upper quartile

Table 23: comparison of how LGBO employees were represented across each quartile in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Quartile	2020	2021	2022	2023
Lower quartile	4.2%	1.9%	4.1%	5.1%
Lower-middle	3.6%	2.3%	4.3%	6%
Upper-middle	3.5%	4%	3.8%	4.1%
Upper quartile	2.1%	5.6%	2.6%	3.2%

Bonus sexual orientation pay gap

In 2023, there was an increase in bonus payments. 68.5% of LGBO staff received bonuses and 83.7% of heterosexual staff received bonuses.

Table 24: comparison of the percentage of employees who either declared to be LGBO, heterosexual or employees who did not declare their sexual orientation, who received a bonus

Sexual orientation	2020	2021	2022	2023
Heterosexual	86.3%	90.9%	91.1%	83.7%
Lesbian, gay, or bisexual	78.7%	85.6%	82.4%	68.5%
Not known	82.4%	85.7%	86.2%	77.3%

The mean LGBO bonus pay gap figure (20.8%) has widened from the previous year by 10.4pp.

In 2023, in line with other median bonus pay gaps, there is no difference in the median bonus value for people who are LGBO to those who are not.

Table 25: comparison of the mean and median sexual orientation bonus gap for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023

Year	Mean	Median
2020	-2.5%	-3.7%
2021	-4.2%	-7%
2022	10.4%	0%
2023	20.8%	0%

Definition of sexual orientation

The Equality Act defines sexual orientation as meaning a person’s sexual orientation towards any of the following:

• persons of the same sex (that is, the person is a gay man or a lesbian)
• persons of the opposite sex (that is, the person is heterosexual)
• persons of either sex (that is, the person is bisexual)

By definition, the characteristic of ‘sexual orientation’ covers people from all sexual orientations. This includes lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual and those who identify as another sexual orientation.

Taking actions to close pay gaps

The Environment Agency is committed to creating an inclusive culture where all employees can be themselves and thrive in the workplace. We continue to work to become an attractive employer for all, removing barriers to recruitment and progression for under-represented groups.

In May 2022, we launched our Environment Agency Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for 2022 - 2025. This helps deliver intersectional benefits alongside targeted action for individual protected characteristics.  

The delivery of the action plan is supported by our diversity networks which offer staff:

• peer support
• networking opportunities
• an employee voice to raise awareness of wider organisational issues

In 2023, we have made progress against the action plan objectives and will continue to drive progress to decrease our pay gaps.

Objective 1: build and develop an inclusive and respectful culture that allows everyone to be their best selves at work. Promote organisational inclusion, tackle bullying, harassment, and discrimination. 

1. The ‘big conversation on race’ promoted a more inclusive culture, encouraging wider conversations on EDI and intersectionality. At the end of the ‘big conversation on race’ 78% of people felt confident identifying racism in EA and 68% are now comfortable talking about race at work.

2. The EA have achieved disability confident status (level 2) and are working towards becoming a disability confident leader (level 3).

3. The EA staff diversity networks are led by an Executive Champion and bring together staff with similar interests or experiences. Networks offer a safe space for staff to speak about their concerns and share experiences.

4. Our engagement with EDI ensures that all employees have better visibility on the challenges faced by different groups. We have highlighted actions that we can all support to improve inclusivity, reduce bias and drive organisational culture change.

Objective 2: increase the diversity of our workforce. Recruit inclusively and equitably to enable a more diverse workforce reflective of the communities we serve. 

1. The EA are committed to an inclusive recruitment process:

   • all posts (6 months or longer) are advertised both externally and internally (permanent and temporary roles)
   • Grade 7 roles and above must have a diverse shortlisting and interview panel 
   • the inclusive recruitment volunteer service and recruiting manager drop-in sessions  support the adoption of inclusive recruitment practices throughout the employee lifecycle

2. We are improving business intelligence related to diversity, including the diversity data declaration rate. By using data from employee declarations and the 2021 census we can communicate how well we reflect the communities we serve. Our EDI Dashboard will provide evidence of change to Executive Managers as well as an overview of EDI workforce data.

3. We are promoting paid apprenticeships, internships, and placements to attract people to the EA earlier in their career or as part of a career change. The Summer Diversity Internship Programme is a 3-month internship for graduates from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Objective 3: ensure equity of opportunity. Make performance, development, progression and pay more equitable across the Environment Agency. 

1. We have encouraged the use of employee passports by working with Staff Diversity Networks and providing line manager training on workplace adjustments.

2. Continue to report on pay gaps and take evidence-based action to address the underlying causes.

3. We have included EDI principles within the development of the pay strategy to address our pay gaps. This includes the approved pay flexibility business case.

4. EA employees have access to workplace policies and processes to support workplace equity, including:

• flexible working arrangements
• job sharing
• part time working
• menstruation and menopause policy.

5. We are improving access to specialist roles. For example, helping those from a lower socio-economic background and who may not have a traditional higher education access careers in the nuclear workforce.

6. We consider the impact of policy and project change on our employees by protected characteristic using Equality Impact Assessments.

7. EA are developing the EDI training that we offer to our leaders, managers and team members. The revised training will include information on how to be inclusive at work and understanding biases to drive cultural change at work.

Objective 4: deliver equitable environmental outcomes and inclusive services.

1. A dedicated social equity team focusing on leading the EA in its contribution to a just and fair society through the delivery of our sustainability strategy eMission2030.

2. An environmental equity study currently in progress. This will assess how the EA’s work impacts environmental equity and will identify the strategic and operational steps needed to close the environmental equity gap.

3. We are preparing social value case studies in capital projects, demonstrating multiple community benefits to contribute to a just and fair society. We have undertaken a social value gap analysis to identify where we can make a bigger difference.

4. We have progressed our Fair Transition initiative. We have recruited Fair Transition Champions from our black, asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) communities to share lived experience and develop the EA’s approach to a fair transition to climate change and net zero. We have presented at the Civil Service Climate conference 2023.

5. We are collaborating with Defra to undertake actions to reduce the risk of Modern Slavery. This includes staff training and framework assessments.

6. We are collaborating with the Supply Chain Sustainability School to increase awareness of social equity, EDI, social value and modern supply for external suppliers and EA staff.

Future areas of focus

The EA will continue to champion an equitable, diverse, and inclusive approach.

This will be achieved through delivery of the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Strategy 2022 to 2025.

In addition to the above objectives, we want to better understand the reasons for our pay gaps so we can introduce the right interventions in place to close the gaps further. It’s vital that we make progress in achieving our EDI objectives through priority pieces of work:

• improving retention of our staff by offering clear options to support career progression, have a comprehensive package of training, and review of our approach to performance ratings and improve offer of employee benefits
• continuing to improve our business intelligence - including increasing employee confidence in the diversity declaration, leavers analysis and using the 2021 census to demonstrate how well we reflect the communities we serve
• shaping inclusive leadership throughout the organisation – including EDI training to make managers more aware of their own biases and improve knowledge of relevant equality legislation to help managers be more accountable

Declaration

We confirm that data reported by the Environment 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.

Philip Duffy, Environment Agency Chief Executive

Request this report as a PDF

You can request of this report as a PDF by emailing edi.mailbox@environment-agency.gov.uk.