Crown Prosecution Service Gender Pay Gap Report for year ending March 2022
Contents
- Foreword
- 1. Executive Summary
- 2. Introduction
- 3. The Gender Pay Gap: The Main Measures
- 4. Analysis of Mean, Median and Bonus Pay Gaps
- 5. Work on Reducing the Gender Pay Gap
- 6. Declaration
Foreword by Chief People Officer, Dawn Brodrick
The CPS is an organisation that values equality, inclusivity and diversity. A key aim in our organisational strategy - CPS 2025 - is ensuring our people are supported and able to develop to reach their full potential. How we pay and reward our employees is an essential part of that approach.
It is a legal requirement that people employed in an organisation are paid the same for like work regardless of their gender – that is the fundamental principle behind ‘Equal pay’. The gender pay gap is different from, but often confused with, equal pay. The gender pay gap spans all jobs in an organisation as a collective and measures the difference in the average hourly earnings of men and women as a proportion of men’s average hourly earnings. It is separate to a measure of the difference in pay between men and women where they are doing the same job.
Our gender pay gap figures for 2022 are 11.2% (mean), and 28.3% (median) and remain broadly unchanged from those reported for the previous year following the 2021/22 public sector-wide pay pause. There are a number of reasons why this pay gap exists one of which is associated with the high representation of women across our workforce and their distribution amongst our various job roles.
As an employer and as in previous years, we continue to appeal to women, evidenced by the fact that they accounted for almost 72% of all appointments during 2021/22. At the 2022 gender pay gap snapshot date (31 March 2022) CPS comprised 67% women; Of these, 45% were employed in our more junior roles. Whilst we are gratified to employ so many women and to play a part as they start or continue their careers it does impact the gender pay gap as the asymmetrical distribution has the overall effect of lowering the average hourly pay of women when compared to men.
In our more senior – and therefore higher paid – roles, we have a gender split of 61% women and 39% men. However, because we employ more women into junior (and lower paying) roles relative to women employed in senior roles, the median gender pay gap is impacted in a similar way to the mean resulting in a lower median hourly pay rate for women when compared to that for men.
From a wider perspective we are an employer of choice. We have progressive employment policies, such as our forward-thinking approach to hybrid working, and for the 6th consecutive year we are a Top 10 Working Families accredited employer. We have a skilled and diverse workforce, attractive career, learning and development opportunities, and much more. Of course, these factors appeal to all people regardless of their gender identity and our People Strategy reinforces our commitment to creating a workplace culture in which everyone can thrive. We are proud of the diversity of our workforce and that it reflects the communities we serve, helping us to deliver justice.
1. Executive Summary
The CPS has prepared this report as part of the legal requirement for public authorities to publish their gender pay gap on an annual basis. CPS is a non-ministerial government department with a total headcount of 7,073 at 31 March 2022.
We have made progress in increasing female representation at our senior higher paying grades. At Grade 7 (G7) through to Senior Civil Service (SCS) we now have 61% of roles filled by females. Despite this, we have seen the mean Gender Pay Gap (GPG) only marginally decrease. This is because the proportion of females at senior grades has increased since 2021 but not by much more than the proportion of females recruited at lower grades. We have a very high representation of females in junior and therefore lower paying roles, and this distorts the female pay dataset’s mean/median calculations and is the principal cause of our pay gap.
With respect to the mean bonus pay gap there is a decrease in comparison to that for 2021. As with previous years we report a negative pay gap - that is, averaged bonus pay for females is higher than bonus pay for males.
While we report hourly pay gaps that run above the Civil Service mean and median of 8.5% and 11.3% respectively, we continue to compare favourably with the mean bonus GPG for the Civil Service (27.4% in 2022), and the median bonus GPG (37.1% in 2022).
2. Introduction
In 2017, the government introduced legislation that made it statutory for organisations with 250 or more employees to report annually on their gender pay gap. 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 data by 30 March each year. This includes:
- the mean and median gender hourly pay gaps
- the mean and median gender bonus pay gaps
- the proportion of male and female employees who received bonuses; and
- the proportions of male and female employees in each pay quartile.
The Civil Service Gender Pay Gap figures were published for the third time in the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES) and provide an overall picture across government. This report fulfils CPS’ individual reporting requirements for 2022.
Organisational Context and Gender Composition
CPS’ total headcount (staff in post) on 31 March 2022, was 7,073 employees. Of this number 7,012 employees were identified as ‘full pay relevant employees’, as set out in the gender pay gap regulations, and included in the GPG calculations for the mean and median hourly pay gap.
CPS uses the Civil Service grading system ranging from Administrative Assistant to Senior Civil Servant. Grades are determined by the level of responsibility that employees have in their job roles. Each grade has a set pay range which is aligned to CPS’ National or London-designated pay zone.
The composition of the CPS workforce by gender and grade on 31 March 2022 and using standard Civil Service grading is shown at Figure 1. Although there has been an increase in the organisation’s headcount year-on-year the CPS’ gender split of 67% women to 33% men remains. The gender distribution is the main contributory reason for the resulting mean and median gender pay gaps.
Figure 1: Distribution of relevant employees by grade and gender
| Grade (increasing seniority) | No. of Females | % Female | No. of Males | % Male | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA/AO | 1062 | 73.7% | 379 | 26.3% | 1441 |
| EO | 1076 | 74.0% | 378 | 26.0% | 1455 |
| HEO/SEO | 654 | 65.8% | 340 | 34.2% | 994 |
| Grade 6/7 | 1861 | 61.2% | 1180 | 38.8% | 3041 |
| SCS * | 48 | 58.5% | 34 | 41.5% | 82 |
| Total | 4701 | 67.0% | 2311 | 33.0% | 7012 |
*The CPS has two senior legal grades which are equivalent to the SCS. These have been included within this group
The column chart below at Figure 2 shows the percentage breakdown of the workforce by gender and grade illustrating the high representation of females employed in our junior grades/lower paid roles of AA, AO and EO. Females in these grades represent 30.5% of the total workforce whereas men in these grades make up only 10.8%. This distribution difference impacts significantly on the CPS gender pay gap calculations because overall it lowers the averaged hourly pay of the female group.
The gender demographic for each individual grade remains roughly unchanged from previous years.
Figure 2: Percentages by Gender and Grade across CPS workforce
3. The Gender Pay Gap: The Main Measures
Figure 3: Median and Mean pay gaps, 2020-2022
The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all males and females in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate that there may be a number of underlying issues to address and individual calculations may help to identify what those issues are.
The gender pay gap and equal pay are not the same thing. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between males and females who carry out the same or similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful
to pay people unequally because of their gender. However, it is possible to have a pay gap whilst still paying females and males fairly.
CPS Gender Pay Gap figures for 2022 are summarised in Figure 3, alongside those for 2021 and 2020 for comparison. These show that the mean pay gap is broadly static decreasing by 0.5 percentage points over the comparison period whilst the median hourly pay gap increased.
Figure 4: CPS GPG figures 2022
| Gender Pay Gap metric | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean hourly pay gap | 11.2% | 11.3% | 11.7% |
| Median hourly pay gap | 28.3% | 28.3% | 20.1% |
| Mean bonus pay gap | -9.0% | -16.2% | -1.2% |
| Median bonus pay gap | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment | Male: 96.4% Female: 96.2% | Male: 41.3% Female: 39.3% | Male: 33.2% Female: 32.7% |
In monetary values this means that for 2022:
- the overall mean and median difference in hourly pay is £2.66 and £7.04 respectively,
- the overall mean and median difference in bonus pay is -£12.09 and £0.00 respectively.
Our hourly pay gaps are not due to higher salaries paid to males compared to females but are because of the high concentration of females populating junior, and consequently lower paying, roles.
Figure 3 illustrates the percentage distribution of male and female in pay quartiles. The pay quartiles are calculated by listing our employees’ hourly wages in ascending order and then splitting the workforce into four equal parts, showing the gender balance within each quartile. Those with the lowest hourly pay can be found in the lower quartile and those with the highest hourly pay can be found in the upper quartile.
Our workforce composition means that those in the more junior grades of AA, AO and EO will place within the lower and lower middle quartiles. The high distribution of women in these two quartiles is the main cause of the CPS’ gender pay gap.
Figure 5: 2022 Distribution of Females and Males through each pay quartile
Figure 6 shows the 2022 quartiles compared to 2021 and 2020 confirming the long-term trend of the gender make-up of the workforce.
Figure 6: 2022 Pay Quartiles compared to 2021 and 2020 quartiles
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower quartile | Male: 26.5% Female: 73.5% | Male: 27.7% Female: 72.3% | Male: 26.7% Female: 73.3% |
| Lower middle quartile | Male: 29.0% Female: 71.0% | Male: 29.5% Female: 70.5% | Male: 30.4% Female: 69.6% |
| Upper middle quartile | Male: 34.5% Female: 65.5% | Male: 34.0% Female: 66.0% | Male: 35.1% Female: 64.9% |
| Upper quartile | Male: 41.9% Female: 58.1% | Male: 43.2% Female: 56.8% | Male: 43.7% Female: 56.3% |
4. Analysis of Mean, Median and Bonus Pay Gaps
Mean Hourly Pay Gap
(Down by 0.1 percentage points from 11.3% in 2021)
The 2021/22 pay pause meant there was no pay award in 2021 for the majority of CPS employees, with only some individuals at AA and AO grades receiving an uplift. This was alongside a group of Grade 7 London pay region-based prosecutors who received an increase to a new pay range minimum in line with the final stage of a previously agreed multi-year pay settlement. In combination with small increases to the headcounts at Grade 6/7 and an uplift to the pay range minimum of the afore-mentioned prosecutor group these contributed to the difference in average salaries across the genders and the slight decrease in our mean gender pay gap.
Median Hourly Pay Gap
(No change reported from 2021)
The 70%-plus make up of females in the more junior grades (AA to EO) on lower salaries (and consequently lower hourly pay) is the main reason for the 28.3% pay gap. The high concentration of females in these junior grades means that the mid-point of the female pay dataset is a significantly lower hourly rate than the mid-point of the dataset for male hourly pay.
Mean Bonus Gap
(Down by 7.2 percentage points from -16.2% in 2021)
CPS reports a negative bonus pay gap. This means that on average females received higher bonus payments than males. The negative bonus pay gap is predominantly a factor of the performance related pay (PRP) scheme for the Senior Civil Service (SCS) – driven by Cabinet Office - and CPS’ similar level grades. (CPS does not have a PRP system for its’ delegated grades below SCS-equivalent.) PRP awards are usually paid as a set value depending on grade and performance level, irrespective of gender. However, fluctuations in the headcount, gender distribution and value of the awards paid makes the calculation very sensitive to these changes.
In 2022, the average PRP awarded to female SCS and equivalent grades was higher in monetary value than those awarded to males.
Median Bonus Gap
(No change from 0% reported in 2021)
As with previous years, we report no median bonus gap as the vast majority of employees receive a flat rate payment under our employee recognition and reward scheme.
SCS and equivalent grades’ PRP bonuses are high payment outliers that affect only the mean bonus gap calculations.
5. Work on Reducing the Gender Pay Gap
The CPS gender ratio is approximately 2:1 female to male, with 45.5% of female employees in the most junior grades (AA/AO/EO). Consequently, to help narrow the pay gap CPS’ efforts continue to focus on ensuring there are no barriers for females in these grades to move into more senior/ leadership roles.
Through various talent management and management development programmes, together with identifying and eliminating potential barriers to career progression CPS aspires to increase representation of females in senior grades/roles. (These programmes are also open male employees.) Whilst there is evidence demonstrating these interventions are successful in their outcomes, the volume of females recruited into the junior grades of AA to EO has the impact of eroding the gains achieved from these career development initiatives.
The CPS undertakes an annual pay analysis which compares the mean and median salary by grade for those in specific protected characteristics groups so that any disparities can be identified and addressed. It also helps inform our pay strategy. The 2022 Pay Analysis does not identify any major areas of concern across CPS pay by grade and gender. However, as identified in previous years, there continues to be underrepresentation of females in the Crown Advocate, Senior Crown Advocate, and Principal Crown Advocate grades. At the 31 March 2022 snapshot date, only 26% of employees in these grades were female, bucking the overall 2:1 ratio of females to males in the CPS.
Work on gaining better insight into the low representation of females in these roles will be undertaken to identify ongoing, potential and/or new barriers to attracting women into this area. This will include a review of the effectiveness of associated initiatives implemented as part of the 2025 Advocacy Strategy.
The CPS are piloting the Civil Service ‘Crossing Thresholds’ Programme in 2023. This is a 12-month programme designed to support females to develop into more senior roles. Piloting a Positive Action Programme such as Crossing Thresholds will enable the CPS to see the impact of specifically investing in women in more junior grades and may positively impact our gender pay gap. The programme includes five 2-day modules covering:
- Career goal setting and planning,
- Getting the balance right for the individual,
- Succeeding at interviews,
- Communicating with impact, and
- Positioning for success.
Those on the programme will also be mentored by an individual in a more senior grade, undertake peer group assignments, attend ‘hot topic’ learning events, and participate in job shadowing. Previous evaluation of the programme has shown that approximately 76% of females who complete the programme are promoted or move to more satisfying jobs within a year.
The programme will be piloted as a cohort of 18 female staff across the Administrative and Executive Officer equivalent grades.
Recruiting, Retaining & Developing an Inclusive Workforce
Recruitment activity is either ‘internal’ (applications limited to existing CPS employees only) or ‘external’ (open to existing employees, the wider civil service, and the general public). During 2021/22 females accounted for 72% of all appointments (internal and external). For grades AA to SEO, female appointments accounted for almost 53% of all external and internal recruitment, compared to just under 18% for males recruited into these grades.
CPS recruitment complies with the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles that ensure appointments are on merit following fair and open competition. To safeguard against bias at the shortlisting stage of the selection process the CPS recruitment procedure follows an approach where each application submitted is name and gender blind/anonymised.
All panel members must complete the CPS recruitment e-learning modules covering equality, diversity and inclusion and its application in recruitment and unconscious bias. It is also mandatory for panel members to attend a Success Profiles training session.
CPS has a robust marketing strategy to attract quality candidates across all of its core roles through a range of initiatives, including proactive brand awareness via LinkedIn content. Our marketing content is designed to be appealing to the candidates we want to attract and reflects where growth in certain characteristics would be beneficial, such as encouraging more applications from men for our junior grades.
Family Friendly Practices and Benefits
CPS has a track record of flexible working practices and has been recognised by Working Families as a top ten employer for the last 6 years (including 2022), which assesses against four key measurements –
- Integration to organisational strategy and culture
- Policy
- Consistent practice
- Evidence and statistics
At 31 March 2022, 22.7% of CPS employees worked part-time and the proportion of females and males working part-time was 88.5% and 11.5% respectively.
CPS has adopted a flexible approach and hybrid working model that intentionally avoids prescriptive office attendance. This extends a high degree of trust, autonomy and flexibility for its employees. The hybrid working model is complemented by a suite of flexible working policies that make the CPS an employer of choice for people across all grade levels with caring responsibilities, who are statistically more likely to be female. In February 2022, the CPS published its Hybrid Working Principles setting out its ways of working post-pandemic. The approach does not mandate specific levels of office attendance, but encourages employees to manage their work in line with three core principles:
- Attending with purpose,
- Focused on wellbeing,
- Collaboration is key.
The focus of these principles allows our employees to blend working in our offices, at court and from home, depending on the needs of the organisation, individual roles, circumstances, and preferences.
The CPS remains committed to supporting its employees who have caring responsibilities and in addition to a Carers Network we have also launched the ‘Carers for Children Network’ subgroup. The aim of this network is to support parents and carers of children of any age with disabilities. The CPS achieved a Level 2 Carers Accreditation by Employers for Carers UK, which recognises CPS’ collective efforts to build an inclusive workplace where carers are recognised, respected, and supported.
The CPS is also refreshing its Diversity and Inclusion Champion model which will see the reintroduction of a Carer’s Champion in addition to the introduction of a Carer’s Ambassador. These roles will work in partnership with one another, the Carers network and the Carers for Children network to ensure that the CPS remains an inclusive employer for Carers.
A Gender and Gender Identity Champion and Ambassador are also to be appointed.
Career Paths
CPS offers a variety of opportunities to assist employees in all grades with career progression. For example, throughout the period April 2021 to March 2022, CPS offered a portfolio of 16 different apprenticeship schemes for a total 225 participants, of which 73% were female. Those new to CPS may begin their career as temporary AO grade apprentices and have the opportunity to gain permanent employment and access further career development opportunities. Additional apprenticeship schemes target specific skills and specialist areas of the business, offering apprentice qualifications at levels 3 to 7 across Finance, HR, Management and Leadership, and Project Management roles amongst others.
The Prosecutor Pathways offers a unique opportunity to build upon academic and professional qualifications through sponsored study towards becoming a Crown Prosecutor whilst continuing in the security of the employee’s current role. The Legal Trainee and Solicitor apprentice scheme female intake for 2021 cohorts was 71%. The cohort for 2022 has seen an increase to 73% of participants who are female. This outcome indicates CPS initiatives to encourage females into more senior roles is having a positive impact.
Pay Policy
The 2022 pay settlement continued the previous years’ pay strategy which implemented significant reductions in several of our lengthier pay ranges. This has facilitated less variation in the way salaries are positioned along the range. Work to shorten pay ranges will continue for the 2023 pay round.
We utilise spot rates (a uniform rate for the job) for AA and AO grades. We also operate a robust approvals process for higher starting pay.
6. Declaration
We confirm that data reported by the Crown Prosecution Service 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.
Dawn Brodrick, Chief People Officer
Crown Prosecution Service March 2023