DUDLEY Council bosses have admitted that while the authority’s gender pay gap is smaller than the national average, there is still work to be done.

All employers with more than 250 staff are now required to publish information regarding the pay gap between their male and female employees.

The pay gap is defined as the difference between the mean (average) or median (actual midpoint between highest and lowest) of basic annual earnings of both sexes and is expressed as a percentage of the mean or median basic annual earnings of men.

Whereas the UK’s national mean gender pay gap stands at 18.1 per cent, Dudley’s comes in at 11 per cent - with women earning an average of £12.51 per hour and men pocketing £14.11.

The council has a median gender pay gap of 18 per cent, compared to 23 per cent nationally, with men receiving an average of £13.35 per hour while women take home £10.91.

The findings showed that the 65 per cent of the authority's workforce were female and despite women making up a majority of the lower paid roles - such as catering, cleaning and caring - they also made up more than 50 per cent of employees in the upper end of the council’s pay scales.

Sarah Norman, the council's chief executive, said: “These findings reflect positively on the council and show that we are beating the national average in closing the pay gap.

"It also shows what an accommodating employer we are in terms of flexible and part time working, with many of our roles fitting in around family life.

"Our part-time female employees also fare better than average, earning more than their national peers."

She continued: “We recognise that there is still a gap, which is why we have signed up to the regional bench marking exercise and we are looking at ways of closing the gap and will be looking at our recruitment practices to encourage a wider range of people to apply for posts with us.”

Rebecca Dalton from Unison told the News that while the council was "performing better than the public sector", it was not "something to be congratulated".

She added: "Unison believes that women should be paid the same as men and have equal opportunities to work in higher paid jobs and have an equal and level playing field in the work place."