Ethnicity Pay Gap

Our March 2026 Ethnicity Pay Gap data shows that while the Constabulary still faces challenges in this area, it is a very different picture than that of our Gender Pay Gap. Whilst we have fewer officers and police staff from ethnic minority backgrounds, there is a more even distribution of people across our pay structure than is seen in our gender pay gap. The pay gap is smaller as a result.

For this reporting period for both police officers and police staff there exists a median ethnicity pay gap of 3.68% compared to a median gender pay gap of 12.7% and for the mean ethnicity pay gap of 2.85% compared to a mean gender pay gap of 7.4%.

The above shows that the majority of black, British Asian and ethnic minority officers and staff are in the lower quartile which is similarly seen within our gender pay gap. However distribution of officers and staff from these groups at middle and upper quartiles are more in line with majority group distribution.

It must be stated that due to the significantly fewer numbers of officers and staff from diverse ethnic backgrounds, whilst enough to be statistically significant, these interpretations should still be treated with caution.

The ethnicity pay gap is a measure of difference between our people’s average earnings across an organisation when considered by race and ethnicity. It is calculated as a percentage of earnings for black, British Asian and ethnic minority officers and staff compared to white colleagues. These figures take into consideration both part-time and full-time employees.

Reporting on our ethnicity pay gap helps us to understand the distribution across work roles and levels of seniority for people of colour in the Constabulary when compared with others.

The ethnicity pay gap does not mean that we pay people of different backgrounds different amounts for doing the same role. It simply helps us to recognise the disproportionality that exists in terms of the link between ethnicity and seniority of position and pay. Pay includes overtime, bonuses and increases by length in role.

The median pay gap figure is the most commonly used figure in pay gap reporting as this is the one most reliable way to represent the experience of the average employee in an organisation.

The mean pay gap figure, when viewed alongside pay quartile information, is most useful to identify where there is a disproportionate distribution of officers and staff across ranks and grades. By identifying where there these gaps exist the Constabulary take action to remove barriers that may hinder progression.