Female Sussex Police workers earn 15 per cent less than men

Women were earning 15 per cent less than their male counterparts as of March 31, 2021 - the latest data available - according to the government’s gender pay gap service.

The Conservative government pledged to improve the gender and ethnic diversity within the police force as part of its 2019 manifesto.

It comes as the Home Office reports that just 44 per cent of 467 officers hired by Sussex Police between April 2020 and March 2022 were female. 

There are fears that misogyny and a lack of trust in the police in general has hindered female enrolment.

Just 36 per cent officers on the Sussex force are female – an increase of only one per cent on March 2019.

There is a pay gap issue at Sussex Police

Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, a charity campaigning for gender equality, said: "These stats represent some welcome progress but to get to equality we need more women entering the force – and that means recognising there is a real problem with sexism and taking meaningful action to stamp it out.

“Trust in the police had been shaken by a culture of misogyny in certain forces.”

The actual number of female police officers on the streets is estimated to be lower than figures suggest, as they are more likely to work part time.

Rick Muir, director of the Police Foundation, a policing think tank, said: "The number of female police officers has gradually been increasing over the past two decades, but there's still a long way to go.”

He said the government had ignored diversity issues within the police, instead focusing on “quantity over composition” to fulfil its manifesto pledge and it was too early to tell whether recent policing scandals will dent the number of women signing up.

Some 13,576 new officers have joined police forces across England and Wales since 2019.

Responding to the reports from the Home Office, a spokesman for Sussex Police said: “The joiner rate for the calendar year 2021 was 52 per cent, which was one of the highest in the country, while the current joiner rate for females is 44 per cent.

“Both these figures compare favourably with the three years average of just 33 per cent for Sussex. The dip from 52 per cent to 44 percent reflects the most recent intake in March where female representation was not as high as previous.

“This is part due to the make-up of the various entry routes – females are particularly successful in our detective entry routes – and the March intake was more slanted towards our Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship entry route.

“The current female representation of officers in Sussex, standing at 36 per cent, is higher than the national average for forces. We have also done a lot to ensure the advancement of females in the force and it is worth pointing out that both the Chief Constable and the Deputy Chief Constable are female.

“With regard to the gender pay gap, the actual gender pay gap for police officers is zero.

“However, as an organisation we have to report on figures which combine both police officers and police staff, and that is when the pay gap goes to 15 per cent. This is in part due to the fact that many police staff roles are part-time admin roles and generally lower paid. These roles tend to be more attractive to female staff due to the degree of flexibility they offer and the need to have this in order to undertake caring responsibilities.”