Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Pay

(asked on 24th May 2016) - View Source
Questioner
Portrait
Greg Mulholland
(Liberal Democrat - Leeds North West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

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

Answered by
Tobias Ellwood Portrait
Tobias Ellwood
This question was answered on 8th June 2016

The table below shows the average hourly salary rates for all employees (Senior Civil Service and below) within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. However, I would note to the Hon. Member that such simple overall averages do not paint an accurate figure of our workforce and recruitment practices. The table therefore also includes a breakdown for each Foreign and Commonwealth Office grade.

2015

2016

Grade

BME

Non-BME

Unknown

BME

Non-BME

Unknown

A1

9.76

9.95

9.55

9.59

9.71

9.59

A2

11.14

11.07

11.09

11.18

11.09

11.07

B3

13.01

13.11

13.06

13.04

13.16

13.08

C4

15.06

15.15

15.36

15.39

15.64

15.64

C5

18.28

18.97

18.93

18.66

19.01

19.00

D6

25.75

24.91

25.30

26.49

25.86

26.00

D7

30.05

30.75

31.21

30.60

31.09

30.84

SMS1

36.48

36.48

37.61

36.45

36.63

36.20

SMS2

46.37

46.80

49.78

46.78

47.39

48.84

SMS3

64.79

70.00

60.94

66.32

66.45

SMS4

92.52

96.16

89.66

Overall

15.81

20.82

20.64

16.15

21.58

19.81

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. These factors have contributed to the differences in overall average salaries.

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

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