To become a fully diverse and inclusive workplace, our workforce must reflect the customers we serve.
Each year we report on our pay and representation data. Our data helps us track our progress, shares detail about what we have achieved against the targets we set and where we still have work to do.
Our data snapshots
Our pay and representation data snapshots were taken on 5 April 2025.
Pay
Reviewing our pay gap data helps us target interventions to improve representation across the organisation.
Our gender data is taken from our HR records used for payroll purposes, consistent with pay gap statutory reporting guidelines.
While we have a legal duty to publish our gender pay gap data, we choose to publish our ethnicity pay gap data. This year, more than 60% of our colleagues disclosed whether they had a disability or not. This means we can report our disability pay gap for the first time.
Gender
See our full data set on gender pay gap
Our gender pay gap (4.7%) remains far below the UK average of 13.1% (reported in 2024).
The small increase (0.1%) in our gender pay gap is because:
- of recent changes in senior leadership, and
- recruitment of more women than men to our regional hubs in roles that are primarily within the lower pay quartiles.
Pay differences across grades for different roles have also contributed to our gender pay gap. For example, Grade 6 roles in legal or HR, with higher female representation, earn less than those in analytics and data professions, which have a higher proportion of men.
To accelerate progress and reduce our gender pay gap, our diversity, inclusion and wellbeing strategy sets out our clear commitments and initiatives that will take us to 2027.
Ethnicity
See our full data set on ethnicity pay gap
For the first time since we started reporting our ethnicity data, there has been a slight increase (0.2%) in the median pay gap. However, we have continued to see a decrease in our mean (from 18% to 16.6%).
Our recent recruitment attracted more ethnic minority groups into new roles, mainly in investigation and customer service teams. While we are pleased to see increased diversity within these roles, this has resulted in a small rise in our median pay gap.
Length of service and senior representation continues to have a large impact on pay. Our workforce has more long-serving colleagues and senior staff who aren’t from ethnic minority groups.
Our targeted recruitment efforts have meant that middle managers from an ethnic minority background rose to 22.6% this year (up by 3.9 percentage points).
We are committed to achieving balanced representation for all ethnic minority groups by continuing to support career progression for colleagues in lower paid roles.
You can read more about the work we’ve done and what we’re planning to do to help us reach our target by 2027.
Disability
See our full data set on disability pay gap
As a Disability Confident Leader, we’re keen to understand the diversity of our workforce, including people with disabilities and mental health conditions. This year, we’ve reported on our disability pay gap for the first time.
Our approach to disability, mental health, and wellbeing is rooted in trust, transparency, and the belief that data can drive meaningful change.
Our figures show a positive starting point, and we will continue to monitor and support our colleagues with disabilities.
We know that sharing personal information about disabilities is a choice. We are dedicated to making it easier for our colleagues to share this information by fostering a culture of psychological safety.
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The ‘median’ is the midpoint value in a data range. The mean – or average – is the sum of all the values, divided by how many values there are.
The median is usually considered a more representative measure of pay gaps than the mean. That’s because a small number of very large or very small values can greatly affect the mean and therefore distort the overall picture.
To measure our gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps, we compare the median and mean hourly earnings of different groups:
- men and women for the gender pay gap
- white and ethnic minority groups (Black, Asian, Mixed background and other) for the ethnicity pay gap, and
- disabled and not disabled.
The difference between the two groups is given as a percentage. Pay gaps between groups are usually the result of differences in representation at senior and higher-paying levels.
The UK gender median pay gap was taken from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data set, which gathers data across all employers and not just those who have to report on their gender pay gap.
Colleagues are not obliged to share their ethnicity or disability. They have the option of choosing ‘other’ and ‘prefer not to say’. The data only reflects staff who’ve chosen to share their ethnic group and disability status.
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Gender pay gap (as at 5 April 2025)
Pay 2025 2024 Difference in median pay 4.7% 4.6% Difference in mean pay 8.3% 7.0% Pay quartile distribution Male Female 2025 2024 2025 2024 Upper quartile 53.3% 51.3% 46.7% 48.7% Upper middle quartile 45.5% 46.5% 54.5% 53.5% Lower middle quartile 42.5% 46.0% 57.5% 54.0% Lower quartile 44.5% 39.9% 55.5% 60.1% Bonus 2025 2024 Difference in median bonus pay 0.0% 0.0% Difference in mean bonus pay 2.3% 3.2% Bonus Male Female Overall 68.5% 70.7% 69.7% -
Ethnicity pay gap (as at 5 April 2025)
Pay 2025 2024 Difference in median pay 11.4% 11.2% Difference in mean pay 16.6% 18.0% Pay quartile distribution White Ethnic Minority 2025 2024 2025 2024 Upper quartile 73.4% 79.7% 22.7% 20.3% Upper middle quartile 61.5% 65.8% 34.4% 34.2% Lower middle quartile 53.1% 52.8% 40.9% 47.2% Lower quartile 48.0% 55.3% 46.7% 44.7% Bonus 2025 2024 Difference in median bonus pay 0.0% 0.0% Difference in mean bonus pay 2.1% 7.4% Bonus White Ethnic Minority Overall 71.2% 65.8% 69.7% Breakdown of pay gap by ethnicity
Pay White Asian Black Mixed Other Difference in median pay N/A 11.6% 11.6% 7.3% 14.3% Difference in mean pay N/A 17.0% 19.2% 6.7% 21.6% Pay quartile distribution White Asian Black Mixed Other Upper quartile 73.4% 13.5% 5.1% 3.8% 0.3% Upper middle quartile 61.5% 19.9% 9.5% 4.1% 1.0% Lower middle quartile 53.1% 24.8% 11.4% 3.7% 1.0% Lower quartile 48.0% 28.3% 13.0% 4.1% 1.3% Bonus White Asian Black Mixed Other Difference in median pay N/A 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Difference in mean pay N/A 2.0% 1.6% 3.3% 3.2% Bonus White Asian Black Mixed Other Overall 75.9% 74.5% 67.6% 78.1% 76.6% 76.0% -
Disability pay gap (as at 5 April 2025)
Pay 2025 Difference in median pay -3.6% Difference in mean pay 0.8% Pay quartile distribution Disabled Not disabled Prefer not to say Not stated Upper quartile 11.3% 42.3% 4.9% 41.6% Upper middle quartile 13.7% 33.8% 2.6% 49.9% Lower middle quartile 13.4% 45.3% 2.1% 39.3% Lower quartile 15.0% 60.9% 4.2% 19.9% Bonus 2025 Difference in median pay 0.0% Difference in mean pay -1.5%
Representation
The charts below show the breakdown of our colleagues by gender, ethnicity, and disability.
Diversity in senior management roles
As signatories to HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter, we’re committed to supporting the progression of women into senior roles.
When we signed up to the Charter in 2017, we had 35% female representation in senior roles and our target was 40% by 2021. We achieved this and have stretched ourselves to achieve 50% by 2026.
Female representation in our senior roles is currently at 42%.
We have set out what we plan to do to meet our target in our diversity, inclusion and wellbeing strategy.
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Full representation data can be found in our data sheet (XLSX 20KB), which covers gender, age, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and religion.
The ethnicity and disability representation data only includes staff who’ve chosen to share their ethnic group and disability status. Colleagues are not obliged to state their ethnicity and disability. They have the option of choosing ‘other’ and ‘prefer not to say’.
All the percentages in our representation data have been rounded to the nearest whole number, which means the figures might not add up to exactly 100%.
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Our gender balance in April 2025
Position Female Male Our board and executive teams 36% 64% Our senior managers 42% 58% Both groups together 42% 58% -
Our ethnicity representation in April 2025
Position White Ethnic Minority Our board and executive teams 55% 18% Our senior managers 81% 15% Both groups together 78%
16% -
Our disability representation in April 2025
Position Disabled Not disabled Our board and executive teams 18% 64% Our senior managers 4% 48% Both groups together 5%
50%
Read our previous reports
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Our data snapshots
Our pay and representation data snapshots were taken on 5 April 2024. From 2024 and onwards, we will take our pay gap data and representation data snapshot at the same time every year to align with our annual report and accounts update.
Pay
Reviewing our pay gap data helps us target interventions to improve representation across the organisation.
In our recent pay gap reporting, we’ve excluded ombudsmen on temporary contracts because the way they’re paid is different to in previous years.
While we have a legal duty to publish our gender pay gap data, we choose to publish our ethnicity pay gap data. We also plan to start publishing our disability pay gap data next year if we achieve a 70% disclosure rate, so that there is enough data for us to get an accurate picture of our progress and where we need to improve.
Gender pay gap (as at 5 April 2024)
Our gender pay gap (4.6%) remain far below the UK average of 13.1%
Our recent recruitment campaigns attracted more women than men. These roles are primarily in the lower pay quartiles, which has contributed to a rise in our gender pay gap.
To accelerate progress and reduce our gender pay gap, our diversity, inclusion and wellbeing strategy sets out our clear commitments and initiatives that will take us to 2027.
Pay 2024 2023 Difference in median pay 4.6% 2.7% Difference in mean pay 7.0% 4.9% Pay quartile distribution Male Female 2024 2023 2024 2023 Upper quartile 51.3% 50.8% 48.7% 49.2% Upper middle quartile 46.5% 46.8% 53.5% 53.2% Lower middle quartile 46.0% 43.0% 54.0% 57.0% Lower quartile 39.9% 44.4% 60.1% 55.6% Bonus 2024 2023 Difference in median bonus pay 0.0% 0.0% Difference in mean bonus pay 3.2% 1.4% Bonus Male Female Overall 75.1% 73.3% 74.1% Ethnicity pay gap (as at 5 April 2024)
Our ethnicity pay gap has continued to fall, year on year, since we first started reporting in 2020.
Length of service and senior representation has a large impact on pay. Our workforce has more long-serving colleagues and senior staff who aren’t from ethnic minority groups.
Our target is to reduce our ethnicity pay gap below 10% by 2027. We’ve already launched programmes for our staff to help us reach our target, for example, our Diversifying Leadership programme. And we’re reviewing the level of pay in non-managerial roles.
You can read more about the work we’ve done and what we’re planning to do to help us reach our target by 2027.
Pay 2024 2023 Difference in median pay 11.2% 11.3% Difference in mean pay 18.0% 19.4% Pay quartile distribution White Ethnic Minority 2024 2023 2024 2023 Upper quartile 79.7% 78.3% 20.3% 21.7% Upper middle quartile 65.8% 68.8% 34.2% 31.3% Lower middle quartile 52.8% 52.2% 47.2% 47.8% Lower quartile 55.3% 49.4% 44.7% 50.6% Bonus 2024 2023 Difference in median bonus pay 0.0% 0.0% Difference in mean bonus pay 7.4% 6.1% Bonus White Ethnic Minority Overall 76.6% 75.1% 76.0% Breakdown of pay gap by ethnicity
Pay White Asian Black Mixed Other Difference in median pay N/A 11.4% 12.0% 10.7% 10.9% Difference in mean pay N/A 18.5% 22.0% 9.1% 13.8% Pay quartile distribution White Asian Black Mixed Other Upper quartile 79.7% 11.3% 4.0% 1.9% 3.1% Upper middle quartile 65.8% 17.0% 9.0% 3.3% 5.0% Lower middle quartile 52.8% 24.5% 13.2% 3.6% 5.9% Lower quartile 55.3% 25.6% 11.5% 3.1% 4.6% Bonus White Asian Black Mixed Other Difference in median pay N/A 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Difference in mean pay N/A 9.3% 7.2% -1.4% 5.0% Bonus White Asian Black Mixed Other Overall 76.6% 75.9% 74.5% 67.6% 78.1% 76.7% Representation
Our gender balance in April 2024
Position Female Male Our board and executive teams 54% 46% Our senior managers 41% 59% Both groups together 46.2% 53.8% Our ethnicity representation in April 2024
Position White Ethnic Minority Our board and executive teams 45% 27% Our senior managers 83% 16% Both groups together 53.8%
23.1% Diversity in senior management roles
As signatories to HM Treasury’s Women in Finance CharterLink to GOV's website, we’re committed to supporting the progression of women into senior roles.
Although, we didn’t meet our ambitious target of 50% female representation in senior roles last December, we’re still focused on achieving gender balance in our workforce.
Our target is for 50% of senior managers to be women by 2026.
Female representation in our senior roles is currently at 41%. We have set out what we plan to do to meet our target in our diversity, inclusion and wellbeing strategy.
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Pay
Calculating our pay gaps
The way we calculate our pay gap data changed in 2023. Our 2023 pay gap data:
- doesn’t include bonus payments in our hourly pay calculation
- considers our peoples voluntary pension contributions as part of their salary sacrifice
We've compared our 2023 pay gap data with our old and new calculation methods. Using our new calculation method resulted in a small change.
Gender pay gap (as at 5 April 2023)
Representation across our pay quartiles is becoming more balanced. In our lowest pay quartile, women make up 55.6%, down from 58.3% in 2022.
The mean bonus pay gap has gone up from -0.2% in 2022 to 1.4%. The median bonus gap remains 0.0%.
To accelerate progress, our diversity, inclusion and wellbeing strategy sets out our clear commitments and initiatives that will take us to 2026.
Pay 2023 2022 Difference in median pay 2.7% 4.8% Difference in mean pay 4.9% 5.5% Pay quartile distribution Male Female 2023 2022 2023 2022 Upper quartile 50.8% 50.9% 49.2% 49.1% Upper middle quartile 46.8% 47.7% 53.2% 52.3% Lower middle quartile 43.0% 44.2% 57.0% 55.8% Lower quartile 44.4% 41.7% 55.6% 58.3% Bonus 2023 2022 Difference in median bonus pay 0.0% 0.0% Difference in mean bonus pay 1.4% -0.2% Bonus Male Female Overall 73.6% 75.7% 74.8% Ethnicity pay gap (as at 5 April 2023)
Our ethnicity pay gap has continued to fall year on year since we first started reporting in 2020.
We saw our biggest pay gap reduction in our mixed background ethnicity group. The mean pay gap is 5.6% (13.6% in 2022) and median 9.1% (12.8% in 2022).
Our ethnicity bonus gap has gone down from 7.0% in 2022 to 6.1%, reflected across individual ethnicity groups. The median bonus gap remains at 0.0%.
Length of service and senior representation has a large impact on pay. Our workforce has more long-serving colleagues and senior staff who aren’t from ethnic minority groups.
Our target is to reduce the pay gap below 10% by 2026. We’ve already launched programmes for our staff to help us reach our target, for example our diversifying leadership programme and reviewing the level of pay in non-managerial roles.
You can read more about the work we’ve done and what we’re planning to do.
Pay 2023 2022 Difference in median pay 11.3% 14.7% Difference in mean pay 19.4% 20.3% Pay quartile distribution White Ethnic Minority 2023 2022 2023 2022 Upper quartile 78.3% 79.2% 21.7% 20.8% Upper middle quartile 68.8% 64.5% 31.3% 35.5% Lower middle quartile 52.2% 53.7% 47.8% 46.3% Lower quartile 49.4% 49.7% 50.6% 50.3% Bonus 2023 2022 Difference in median bonus pay 0.0% 0.0% Difference in mean bonus pay 6.1% 7.0% Bonus White Ethnic Minority Overall 81.2% 72.7% 74.5% Breakdown of pay gap by ethnicity
Pay White Asian Black Mixed Other Difference in median pay N/A 11.5% 13.3% 9.1% 10.3% Difference in mean pay N/A 20.8% 22.9% 5.6% 14.3% Pay quartile distribution White Asian Black Mixed Other Upper quartile 78.3% 10.7% 4.8% 2.4% 3.9% Upper middle quartile 68.8% 15.6% 8.3% 2.2% 5.1% Lower middle quartile 52.2% 24.1% 13.6% 4.2% 5.9% Lower quartile 49.4% 29.0% 13.4% 2.2% 6.1% Bonus White Asian Black Mixed Other Difference in median pay N/A 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Difference in mean pay N/A 6.9% 6.9% -2.6% 6.7% Bonus White Asian Black Mixed Other Overall 81.2% 69.5% 72.2% 81.0% 82.5% 74.5% Representation
Diversity in senior management roles
As signatories to HM Treasury’s Women in Finance CharterLink to GOV's website, we’re committed to supporting the progression of women into senior roles.When we signed up to the Charter in 2017, 35% of our staff were women and our target was to achieve 40% female representation in senior roles by December 2021. We achieved our target ahead of the deadline and set ourselves a further target, to achieve 50% by 31 December 2023.
Although, in December 2023, female representation on our Board and Executive teams gone up from 46% in 2022 to 54%, our overall female representation in senior roles is 44%, falling short of our ambitious target.
We are focused on achieving gender balance in our workforce, so we will continue to aim for 50% of senior managers to be women by 2026.
Among our senior managers, 17% came from ethnic minority groups, but still short of the ambitious stretch target that we’ve set ourselves of 20%.
The action we plan to take and help us reach our targets is set out in our diversity, inclusion and wellbeing strategy.
Our gender balance in December 2023, compared with December 2022
Position Female Male 2023 2022 2023 2022 Our board and executive teams 54% 46% 46% 54% Our senior managers 44% 42% 56% 58% Both groups together 45% 41% 55% 58% Our ethnicity representation in December 2023, compared with December 2023
Position White Ethnic Minority 2023 2022 2023 2022 Our board and executive teams 50% 46% 25% 46% Our senior managers 82% 81% 17% 16% Both groups together 78% 76% 18% 21%
