Transparency data

Government Internal Audit Agency: Gender Pay Gap Report 2025

Published 17 April 2026

1. Executive summary

Organisations with 250 or more employees are required to report annually on their gender pay gap. HM Treasury (HMT) publishes a combined annual Gender Pay Gap report on behalf of the HMT Group, the HMT core department and four executive agencies, including the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA). This report was published on 16 December 2025, and this can be found on gov.uk.

Government departments are covered by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017. These regulations underpin the Public Sector Equality Duty and require relevant organisations to publish their gender pay gap annually. These reports are an important tool in demonstrating our commitment to becoming a fully inclusive and diverse workforce. We recognise that greater transparency and accountability is key to demonstrating our commitment to equality, attracting talent and boosting employee engagement.

We regularly publish information on the diversity of our workforce, in our GIAA Annual Report and Accounts which can be found on gov.uk.

The gender pay gap is the measurement of any difference in pay between men and women in our workforce. For 2025, GIAA’s median gender pay gap has fallen by 1.7 percentage points from the previous year. The median is used as the standard measure for benchmarking as a mean measurement is susceptible to the impact of outliers. The report highlights that GIAA’s median bonus gap of 0 showing equality in the payment of bonuses across both genders.

The report also highlights that there is 54% representation of women across GIAA, at all grades including senior civil service grades (SCS).

We remain committed in our ambition to reduce the gender pay gap and following further analysis, we will refine our approach and act on the main contributors of the gap.

2. Introduction

This report sets out GIAA’s data for the reporting period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, in line with statutory requirements. We remain committed to transparency and continuous improvement in our efforts to close the gender pay gap and foster a fair, inclusive workplace.

We are pleased to report that the GIAA’s gender pay gap has narrowed since last year, reflecting the impact of our focus and targeted interventions. This progress reinforces our confidence that we are addressing the right areas and that our long-term strategy is delivering a meaningful reduction of the gender pay gap.

Building on this momentum, we continue to develop our Gender Pay Gap Action Plan by analysing our pay gap data to identify the key drivers contributing of our pay disparities. As a result, we will target areas which actively contribute to our pay gap, with our action plan aimed at:

1. Expanding talent pipelines and defining clear career and entry pathways.
2. Continuing to update our recruitment candidate packs to reflect GIAA as a flexible and inclusive employer.
3. Developing supported routes into GIAA and the internal audit profession.
4. Improving access to flexible and part-time working options where possible.
5. Promoting and supporting GIAA network groups in line with the Civil Service Staff Networks policy.
6. Using data to enhance accessibility, inclusivity, and equity in recruitment and internal promotions.
7. Identifying and removing barriers to career progression.
8. Continuously improving talent planning and ensuring fair career development processes.
9. Strengthening data analysis to assess the impact of gender, ethnicity, and other protected characteristics on pay and bonuses.
10. Reviewing exit survey data to identify trends and reasons for leaving, and analysing this data by gender and grade.
11. Continuing to address any incidences of discrimination, bullying and harassment to create an inclusive workplace where people feel empowered to raise concerns.
12. Maintaining our People Manager Programme to enhance leadership skills.

We recognise that closing the gender pay gap is a long-term endeavour requiring sustained commitment. Through continued delivery of our action plan, we aim to build a more balanced and inclusive organisation where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

The GIAA is made up of 54% women (262 employees) and 46% men (225 employees).

The table below shows the percentage of men and women working at all civil service grades as of 31 March 2025. The data demonstrates that there continues to be an imbalance of genders at each grade with a higher proportion of women working at junior grades.

Table 1: Headcount % of men and women by grade in GIAA

Grade (increasing seniority)	Men	Women	% of grade who are female
AO	1	0	0%
EO	3	11	79%
HEO/SEO	92	146	61%
Grade 7/Grade 6	114	93	45%
SCS	15	12	44%
Total	225	262	54%

3. Findings

A gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce and is different to equal pay. Equal pay refers to the difference in pay 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 of their gender. A gender pay gap does not equate to the existence of an equal pay problem but may be the trigger for investigating why the gap exists.

In line with the Annual Civil Service Engagement Survey (ACSES) and regulations, hourly pay is calculated as March pay divided by March hours. Pay includes gross salary and allowances, less any salary sacrifice benefits.

Table 2: Gender pay and bonus gap

Difference between Men and Women	Mean (average)	Mean % difference from last year	Median (middle)	Median % difference from last year
Gender pay gap	7.5%	-1.2%	9.8%	-1.7%
Gender bonus gap	0.9%	-11.5%	0	Unchanged from last year

To note - Figures detailed within the report are shown as positives (+) and negatives (-). Negative figures illustrate that the gender pay gap is in favour of women, while positive figures highlight that a gap exists. Figures are presented as percentages, with the variance on the previous year’s figure shown in the adjacent column.

Table 3: Pay quartiles

Quartiles	Men	Women
Quartile 1	38.5%	61.5%
Quartile 2	38.5%	61.5%
Quartile 3	51.6%	48.4%
Quartile 4	56.2%	43.8%

Pay quartiles show the percentage of men and women employees in four equal sized groups on their hourly pay. Quartile 1 is the lowest paid bracket and quartile 4 is the highest paid bracket.

3.1 Analysis of the GIAA Pay Gap

As of 31 March 2025, the GIAA mean gender pay gap was 7.5% which has decreased by 1.2% percentage points from last year (previously 8.7%). The median gender pay gap has decreased by 1.7 percentage points in 2025 to 9.8% (previously 11.5%). Whilst this indicates that, on average, men continue to earn more than women, there is some progress towards pay parity.

There has been a reduction in the proportion of women in the lowest paid quartile, with women now representing 61.5% in quartile 1 compared to 66.4% last year. There has also been an increase in the proportion of women in the top pay quartile with an increase of 1.3 percentage points. Quartile 3 has remained the same, and Quartile 2 has shown a modest increase in female representation, now 61.5% compared to last year’s 56.7%.

3.2 Analysis of the GIAA Bonus Gap

The GIAA mean bonus gap has decreased to 0.9%, down from 12.4%. Among those receiving bonuses between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, 92.9% were men and 92.4% were women.

The median bonus gap remains at 0%, demonstrating equality in bonus payments made across both genders.

4. Closing the Gender Pay Gap

At GIAA we have implemented a long-term Gender Pay Gap Action Plan, designed to address the key drivers identified through previous analysis. 

We have embedded a range of good practices to support closing the gender pay gap, including:

Recruitment and progression

• Recruitment processes are transparent, including advertising pay scales in job adverts. Candidate packs are regularly updated to reflect GIAA as a flexible and inclusive employer, highlighting family-friendly HR policies, wellbeing initiatives, and employee benefits. All sift and interview panels are gender balanced.
• Current apprentices and trainees across all disciplines include more women than men, supporting our recruitment pipeline.
• The Future Leadership Scheme is promoted to support leadership development at grades 6 and 7, and inclusion schemes are actively promoted to support progression in the Civil Service.
• The GIAA induction programme introduces all new employees to equality, diversity, and inclusion principles.

Culture

• A programme addressing discrimination, bullying, and harassment has been implemented, including agency-wide awareness sessions (“Behaviours Matter”), updates to HR policies, improved reporting mechanisms, and initiatives to foster psychological safety.
• Regular engagement with people networks and trade unions ensures employee insights inform policy and practice.
• Transparent HR policies support women in the workplace, including leave for fertility appointments, such as In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), maternity leave, parental leave, and flexible working.
• The Menopause Matters network raises awareness and provides guidance for women and managers, complemented by workplace adjustments, Occupational Health services, and the Employee Assistance Programme.
• The Women in GIAA (WiG) network organises events that raise awareness and celebrate women, such as International Women’s Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Pay

• Diversity and equality outcomes are considered throughout the pay award process.
• End-of-year moderation includes diversity panel discussions to ensure fair and consistent awarding of SCS performance bonuses.

5. Declaration

GIAA confirms that our data has been provided to HM Treasury and calculated by the Cabinet Office according to the requirements and methodology set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017.  

Kirsty O’Donnell, Deputy Director of People and Culture