Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department's (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

This question was answered on 15th June 2016
$24052016|5|W|26052016|Greg Mulholland|Leeds North West|To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department's (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016. 38216 A: The tables below are the average hourly rates for all employees (Senior Civil Service and below) within the Department of Culture, Media and Sport for the following categories. However, I would note to the Hon. Member that such simple averages do not paint an accurate figure of our workforce and recruitment practices.

2015

Category	Average hourly rate
BME	£17.06
Non-BME	£21.63
Unknown	£20.20

2016

Category	Average hourly rate
BME	£16.50
Non-BME	£21.71
Unknown	£20.39

The Civil Service is changing, and our recruitment seeks to reflect the make-up and composition of our nation as a whole. Historically, BME staff were under-represented: both in terms of previous recruitment patterns and the number and proportion in higher grades, both of these factors have contributed to the differences in average salaries.

Additionally in DCMS a significant number of employees have not declared their ethnicity - less than 60% declared their ethnicity in 2015 and 2016 – which means that the data provided cannot be taken as a comparison of BME and non-BME wages across the Department. DCMS are actively encouraging employees to increase the declarations that will provide reliable data on protected characteristics. As a result between 31 March and 27 May 2016 the declarations have risen to almost 70%. There is also a clear decline in the pay gap between BME and non-BME employees over the two months that the declarations have increased.

The differential at Senior Civil Service (SCS) grades is a result of a low number of declared BME employees at this level.

We are making progress the proportion of BME staff in the Civil Service has risen from 9.2% in 2010 to 10.6% in 2015, but we recognise that there is still more to do.

In March, the Government published its 2016 Talent Action Plan for the Civil Service. It provides a progress update on initiatives to increase diversity in the Civil Service, including cross-Government talent programmes aimed at under-represented groups.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/talent-action-plan-2016-removing-the-barriers-to-success

31 March 2015 Data

	2015			2016
Grade	BME	Non-BME	Unknown	BME	Non-BME	Unknown
SCS	34.42	35.68	40.51	35.26	37.24	41.17
A(U)	32.62	28.54	29.49	28.37	29.89	29.61
A	24.52	24.42	24.96	24.17	24.26	24.56
B	17.07	17.06	16.61	17.09	16.74	16.10
C	12.48	12.31	12.22	11.73	12.22	12.12
D	9.92	10.50	9.94	9.93	9.68	10.03

Notes on the data

The data is sourced from the Staff in Post payroll reports for 31 March 2015 and 31 March 2016. ‘Employees’ include all employees paid through the organisation’s payroll, including any employees on maternity, paternity or shared parental leave, those on paid sick leave and employees on paid special leave. This excludes employees not paid through the payroll including agency and interim staff, those on unpaid leave or career breaks, Fee Paid staff, Non-Executive Board Members, political appointments where earnings are not determined by DCMS such as Ministers and Special Advisors.

‘Unknown’ includes individuals who have either elected to prefer not to declare their ethnicity or those who have not recorded a response against this protected characteristic. The average hourly earnings include basic salary and allowances.