Moray's gender pay gap is double Scottish average
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Moray’s gender pay gap is a "national scandal", according to the local authority’s equalities champion.
Women living here earn 22.6% less than men – that's nearly twice the Scottish average of 11.5%.
These figures were presented Moray Council's economic development committee yesterday
Juli Harris (Speyside/Glenlivet, SNP), labelled the difference "extreme"
She said: "We have a gender pay gap that is actually getting worse.
"We are the lowest paid female workforce in Scotland.
"One in five women are earning less than the living wage.
"These statistics don’t encourage anybody from out with the area to consider coming and working here.
"It is a national scandal that we’re in such a poor state."
Cllr Harris was speaking during discussions on what should be included in what the council is calling its 'community wealth building action plan'.
Ms Harris wanted a specific list of the reasons behind the local gender pay gap to be included in the document.
Chris Muir, the council's senior officer for economic strategy and development, welcomed the issue being brought up, but felt it important to highlight that the gender pay gap is not a matter of equal pay.
He said: "It is a pressing issue and it poses a huge challenge for the local economy.
"One of the key drivers for the gender pay gap locally is the propensity of women in low paid part-time work.
"Another big part of the issue facing working families is the lack of wrap-around school age childcare.
"Providing adequate childcare is absolutely key to getting parents back into meaningful full-time work.
"If we can address that issue I think we can go a long way to alleviate the issue we have with gender pay gap locally."
Rhona Gunn, the council's deputy chief executive, told the meeting that reducing the figure is a key objective.
She said: "We have a number of strategic approaches that are designed to make inroads to that gender pay gap, and start to bring that differential down."
Paul McBain (Forres, Conservative) noted that female entrepreneurship in Moray is one of the highest in Scotland.
However Mr Muir suggested the lack of childcare provision could be forcing women into becoming self-employed.
Cllr Harris’ comments come days after her fellow councillor Shona Morrison (Fochabers/Lhanbryde, SNP) raised "serious concerns over the gender pay gap within the council".
While the Scottish average for local authorities is 3.54%,the difference between the local authority’s male and female employees’ stands at 6.95%.
That figure is up from 6.16% for the previous 12 months.
It means Moray Council is ranked 30th out of 32 councils in terms of the gender pay gap.
The stated aim of the council's wealth building action plan is to keep more money within Moray in order to benefit communities.
Part of the approach will be to ensure workers are in well-paid jobs, and for public bodies to procure goods and services locally.
The plan will go out for consultation before coming back to the committee in September.
