Introduction
Building a diverse workforce at all levels and creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can grow and thrive are key priorities for Bradford Children and Families Trust. Ensuring our people can always bring their best selves to work is critical to improving outcomes for the children, young people and families we support.
As part of our drive to integrate diversity and inclusion into everything we do, we are going above and beyond our statutory obligation by publishing ethnicity pay information. It is important to us that we build a full picture of how pay is awarded across ethnic groups so we can address any disparities and track progress.
The median gender pay gap can provide an indication of what a ‘typical’ situation might look like, so is often considered the most representative measure of any gap. The 2025 median gender pay gap indicates that at the mid salary point, we had a 0% gender pay gap, which is a reduction from last year which was in favour of men by 2.36%.
Our ethnicity pay data highlights a lack of representation of minority ethnic groups in the upper quartile pay bands. We will use this information to help us to understand and address ethnicity pay differences within the workforce.
We are committed to taking meaningful, consistent and sustained actions through wider policies and activities to drive change and create a workplace where all employees are valued and compensated equitably.
Together, we can unlock the incredible potential of our workforce that comes from greater inclusion and equal progression.
Chief Executive Officer, Bradford Children and Families Trust
Understanding the Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap
The following analysis has been carried out according to the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulation 2017, which places a mandatory requirement on public sector employers with 250 or more employees to report their gender pay gap by 30th March each year using pay data as of 31st March the previous year. The pay period in this case refers to data collated from 31st March 2025.
Whilst the mandatory requirement for pay gap reporting currently only covers gender, it is important to us to be aware of any gaps that may arise from other protected characteristics such as ethnicity, which has been included as part of this report. Reporting for ethnicity has been conducted in the same manner as gender pay. Due to incomplete employee data on ethnicity, the workforce composition data differs for each protected characteristic.
The calculations used to understand our pay gap are as follows:
- Median – involves listing all the numbers in numerical order (lowest to highest) and selecting the middle number. If there is an even number of results, the median is the mean of the two central numbers.
- Mean – involves adding up all the numbers and dividing the result by how many numbers were in the list.
Averages are affected by many factors, and the mean average is more influenced by very low or very high pay, whereas the median average is less influence by this factor and is usually a better measure of a mid-point.
There are six calculations that all employers who report their gender pay gap must include. Three of the calculations relate to bonus payments, however Bradford Children and Families Trust do not pay bonuses therefore the calculations have not been included in the report.
Workforce Composition
Our workforce is predominantly female at 81.0%. Our Top 5 Earners see the highest ratio of female employees, with 83.8%. This is not uncommon to see as social care is a female dominated sector. When looking at the Social Worker England register, as of 31st March 2025 there were 83.6% of social workers who registered that they were Female, whilst 16.4% registered that they were Male.
In 2025, we saw our workforce split by 42.7% declared White and 43.3% declaring an ethnicity with 9.4% of individuals not declaring their ethnicity status. When looking at the composition of the residents in Bradford, we are on trend with what the data showed in the 2021 Census. The 2021 Census showed that within Bradford the White population was decreasing, whilst ethnic groups such as the Asian population was increasing. It is positive to see that our workforce is related to those that we serve. We have also seen a decrease in the number of undeclared responses, showing that our employees are committed to help us shape initiatives to serve our workforce and the children and families of Bradford.
Our Top 5% Earners saw an increase this year in the White declaration category by 5% and an increase in the Declared Ethnicity category by 1%. Whilst this does not show a significant improvement in our top 5% being from a declared ethnic background, it does highlight that we are moving in the correct direction to ensure that we are recruiting to a diverse leadership team.
Gender Pay Gap Results
For 2025, the median gender pay gap was 0%, meaning that there is no difference between the pay of the middle man and middle woman, indicating equal pay at the midpoint. This suggests fair pay distribution amongst our middle earners but doesn’t address potential differences at the top or the bottom of the pay scale. A 0% median pay gap is not the same as equal pay, which addresses whether men and women are doing the same work or work of equal value and are being paid the same. Our median pay gap has changed from 2.36% last year to 0% and this change could be attributed to many factors however we had had an additional 114 women included in this year’s return compared to the additional 6 males, which could explain why we now have a 0% median gender pay gap.
For 2025, the mean gender pay gap was -5.32% meaning that for every £1 a woman earns, a man earns 95p. In a year, we have grown as a Trust however we remain an organisation with a higher percentage of women than male. This does not indicate pay discrimination against men, as the calculation reflects the average pay differences and as our leadership is significantly more women than men, this can have an impact on our mean average.
Gender Quartile Pay Band
The headcount for full pay relevant employees on the snapshot date of 31st March 2025 was 1334, this has been arranged by the highest hourly rate of pay to the lowest hourly rate of pay. The total has then been divided into four quartiles with the same hourly rate being distributed evenly by gender where they cross the quartile boundaries.
This year in our upper quartile we have seen an increase in the male %, which shows that we are moving towards having a more diverse leadership team. However, we do still collectively have 42.4% of males within the two lowest quartiles, which shows that we still have opportunities for growth within male leadership roles.
Ethnicity Pay Gap Results
Results show that in the 2025 pay period, white employees earn on average either -11% more (median) or -10% (mean) than an ethnic minority employee according to the measurement chosen.
A pay gap in favour of white employees indicates that white employees occupy a greater proportion of higher paid roles, whilst employees from ethnic minority backgrounds are more concentrated in lower paid roles. This gap does not necessarily reflect unequal pay for equal work but rather difference in representation across job levels. Our workforce is made up of 44.7% declared ethnic minorities, 45.4% white and 9.9% undeclared. Whilst we do have a relatively balanced split between ethnic minority and white employees, we do still have less than 10% of employees that haven’t declared their ethnicity status. Understanding the whole workforce ethnicity, will
GOV.UK describes an agreed list of ethnic groups which have been applied when collecting our ethnicity data. Any groups listed as Ethnic Minority fall under ethnic groups relating to Asian or Asian British, Black, Black British or Caribbean background, Mixed or multiple ethnic groups and other ethnic groups. Any groups listed as White includes English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British, Irish, Gypsy or Irish Traveller, Roma or any other white background.
Ethnicity Quartile Pay Band
The headcount for full pay relevant employees included in the analysis as of 31st March 2025 was 1,146 which differs from the headcount for gender pay due to gaps within the ethnicity data.
When arranged by the highest hourly rate of pay to the lowest hourly rate of pay and the total divided into four quartiles, the analysis shows the ethnicity distribution between the four quartiles is not even, with only 35% of our ethnic minority employees within the upper quartile and 59% being in the lower quartile.
Tackling our gender & ethnicity pay gap
What have we achieved:
- Our upper quartile now includes a higher percentage of male employees than in 2024. This indicates early positive movement in encouraging gender diversity at senior levels, one of our stated actions from last year.
- As part of the 2024 commitment to gender-balanced and inclusive recruitment, we have continued to embed job description reviews and gender-neutral language.
- Interview panels have become increasingly diverse across gender and ethnicity, supporting fair decision-making and helping reduce bias in recruitment.
- In 2024, 23% of employees did not state their ethnicity. This has reduced to 9.9% in2025, showing improved trust in sharing personal data and enabling more accurate ethnicity pay analysis, an important strategic step outlined in last year’s plan.
- In line with our 2024 commitment to strengthen flexible working, we have continued to expand flexible arrangements across teams, supporting work-life balance for all genders.
- Improved flexibility has also contributed to retaining experienced staff, including senior female leaders, helping maintain our strong representation of women at the top of the organisation.
- Our workforce now reflects Bradford’s population more closely, with 43.3% of colleagues declaring an ethnic minority background —an increase on last year. This aligns with our 2024 action to support inclusive recruitment and build a workforce representative of the communities we serve.
- We have continued to roll out unconscious bias training across the Trust, building capability and confidence among managers in ensuring fair treatment and equitable decision-making.
Our actions:
We want to ensure that the actions that we set reflect our strengths, acknowledge any disparities and commit to sustainable and transparent progress. Addressing the pay gap is complex as it is influence by factors beyond our control such as career choices and educational pathways however to promote gender equity we will:
- Gender Pay Gap Audit – We will continue to track gender pay throughout the year to ensure that pay equity is being maintained. We will also be reviewing promotion outcomes to ensure fairness and transparency.
- Support Male Representation in the Workforce – We will explore targeted outreach and recruitment campaigns aimed at increasing male representation in underrepresented roles. We will also monitor career development opportunities to ensure men are equally supported in progression pathways.
- Enhance Gender Inclusive Culture – We will continue to offer flexible working policies that benefit all genders.
- Support Progression & Representation at Senior Level – We will conduct an in-depth analysis to understand barriers for progression for our ethnic minority staff and set measurable targets to improve our representation at senior level.
- Leadership Development Programme – We will offer a tailored leadership development programme for our underrepresented employees throughout the protected characteristics.
- Inclusive Recruitment Practices – We will ensure that we have diverse interview panels and that job adverts are inclusive and reach a wide talent pool. We will work with networks to attract ethnically diverse candidates into the Trust.
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Training – We will continue to embed inclusive leadership and training across the Trust. We will promote an open culture where inclusion and equity are regularly discussed and championed.
Conclusion
We are committed to improving diversity and equity within Bradford Children’s and Families Trust, this report highlights significant areas for development, particularly in ensuring the minority ethnic employees and male employees are represented evenly throughout all levels of the organisation. By implementing our actions above, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace and this report marks another step in our journey towards this.
Declaration
I, Claire Corneille, Director of People & Talent, confirm that the information in this statement is accurate.