Addressing our gender pay gap

We have a gender pay gap, which means that, on average, women who work for us have less total income than men. This is not a result of men and women doing the same job being paid differently, but rather that there are many more men and those men tend to occupy more senior roles.

Our gender pay gap report

We believe in equal treatment for all our staff and this includes equal employment opportunities and equal pay using nationally established pay scales.

Our gender pay gap report sets out the difference in pay between men and women and outlines what we are doing to reduce, and hopefully get rid of, the gender pay gap.

We are working to actively reflect the communities we serve in all areas of inclusion and diversity. While the gender pay gap is decreasing and is well below the national average, we still have a lot of work to do to ensure equality for all, and to establish a gender balance, particularly at senior management levels.

One of the most important ways to address this issue is to increase the number of women who work for us, especially in uniformed roles.

You can view our Gender Pay Gap Summary Report for 2023 on the gov.uk website.

Gender Pay Gap Report 2022.odt
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Gender Pay Gap Report 2022.pdf
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Gender Pay Gap report 2021.odt

Gender pay gap report 2021.

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Gender Pay Gap report 2021.pdf
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Making the Service a more attractive place to work

Historically, the fire service has been seen as a job only for men. This is not true. We want to make Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service a place where everyone would consider working. See our careers page for more information.

Here are some of the actions we are taking to achieve that aim.

 

Pay for Availability

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We have introduced new contracts at most of our on-call fire stations called Pay for Availability. The system provides greater flexibility over working hours and improves work-life balance for our on-call firefighters. Read more about Pay for Availability. 

 

Supporting female applicants

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We hold have-a-go days and positive action evenings to support applicants from under-represented groups who aren’t sure if they meet the standards to become a firefighter. This includes trying the strength and fitness exercises that everyone that must pass as part of the recruitment process. 

 

Women’s network  

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Our women’s network is a safe place for women to come together to share experiences, learn, mentor and inspire each other. We’ll continue to create a healthy, balanced and respectful environment so that every woman feels valued and supported. Learn more about how we support women. 

 

Positive action toolkits

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We provide our fire stations with positive action toolkits to help them promote vacancies to members of the community who are currently under-represented in the workforce.

 

Development opportunities

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We offer several opportunities for staff to develop as leaders and to create a learning culture through personal development and training. This creates transparent career pathways to enable people to reach their potential. 

Development opportunities include the Our Time sponsorship programme to help women in middle management roles build relationships with senior leaders and drive their careers forward. 
 

 

People impact assessments

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We consult with a cross-section of our staff to ensure that the decisions we make do not have a detrimental effect on anyone. People impact assessments are conducted before we change any processes and practices and require input from and identify impacts on under-represented groups including women at an early stage.

 

Staff stories

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Some of our colleagues have told their stories about what it is like to work for the Service.  We hope this will inspire others to think about joining our team. Read our staff stories. 

If you would like more information, please get in touch using one of the options on our contacts page.