'Some way to go' on Humberside Fire and Rescue gender pay gap
Bosses say progress has been made...
Last updated 13th Feb 2021
The gap between men and women’s earnings at Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is closing but “significant” gender imbalances in its hierarchy and wider societal causes continue to hamper progress.
Humberside Fire Authority heard the latest figures on pay differences showed women earned 87p for every £1 men made as of March 2020, according to figures on average mean hourly rates.
Members of the authority also heard today (Friday, February 12) the same figures showed a 13.34 per cent gap between genders, down from 15.13 in 2019 and 16.75 in 2018.
Group manager Jason Kirby said the gap was not due to pay differences but was down to a far higher proportion of men than women employed, particularly in senior posts.
The officer said: “The gap is closing which is pleasing to see, but we still have some way to go.
“There are many societal reasons as to why more men than women occupy senior roles.
“The last four years show a promising picture and our direction of travel is the right one, but dealing with this will require shifts in cultural norms across the country.”
The service’s figures showed women made up a fifth of service employees as of 2020, 217 compared to 846 men.
Women account for 79 per cent of the 34 staff in the service’s control division and 61 per cent of its 230 support workers.
But the proportion of women working as operational staff was 6 per cent, 50, out of a total of 799.
Women made up 44 per cent of those in the bottom quarter by salary, compared to 15 per cent in the top quarter.
Separately, Fire Authority members heard 60 front line staff had been vaccinated for coronavirus while helping with jab rollouts at the KCOM Stadium and the newly launched Hull City Hall.
Chief Fire Officer Chris Blacksell told members 24 staff were currently off with coronavirus, compared to 81 on the worst day recorded.
He added apart from taking some staff and firefighters off rotas if they caught the virus, the service was largely unaffected and had not seen outbreaks recently.
The chief officer said: “We have 15 people at the service who are clinically extremely vulnerable, they’re all working from home.
“We’re not aware of anyone who is seriously ill with coronavirus at the moment.
“Two staff members are supporting lateral flow testing and we have others volunteering to deliver PPE.
“We have 10 staff permanently working on the vaccine rollout at Hull’s two sites, a further four are going one day a week.
“So people will see Humberside Fire and Rescue staff giving injections in their uniforms.”
Members also heard there were concerns around the scale of government funding for the service going forward, given fire was not protected like schools or the NHS.
They also heard the service would ask for a 1.99 per cent increase in its precept, or share of takings from local council tax receipts.
Fire Authority Chair Cllr John Briggs said: “For the sake of 14p more a month services will not be jeopardised in any way going forward.”