West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin to publish ethnicity pay gap report as data reveals Yorkshire has largest wage disparity between white and ethnic minority workers outside of London

West Yorkshire Combined Authority will publish ethnicity pay reports for the first time in its history, Tracy Brabin has announced.

Labour Metropolitan Mayor Ms Brabin promised the reports - which will require the authority to disclose the average salaries of its employees of different races much like with gender pay gap reports - as today marks her 100th day in office.

It comes after data last year revealed Yorkshire as having the greatest pay inequalities between white and ethnic minority workers outside of London.

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The authority (WYCA), combining the county's five metropolitan and borough councils, will follow councils in London, Bristol and Wales to publish median wages across the workforce in order to highlight racial disparity.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority will publish ethnicity pay gap reports for the first time, Tracy Brabin has announcedWest Yorkshire Combined Authority will publish ethnicity pay gap reports for the first time, Tracy Brabin has announced
West Yorkshire Combined Authority will publish ethnicity pay gap reports for the first time, Tracy Brabin has announced

Unlike gender pay gap reports which, with the exception of last year, have been mandatory for all firms with more than 250 employees since April 2017, ethnicity pay gap reports are published on a voluntary basis.

However, ministers will discuss the possibility of obligatory ethnicity pay gap reports in Parliament next month after more than 130,000 people signed a petition calling for them.

It follows data published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in October which revealed that, between 2012 and 2019, most minority ethnic groups continued to earn less than white British employees.

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However, in 2019, workers of Chinese, white Irish, Asian, and Indian ethnic groups all earned higher hourly pay than white British employees.

Tracy BrabinTracy Brabin
Tracy Brabin

The pay gap between white British employees and ethnic minorities in Yorkshire & the Humber is 12.7 per cent, according to the ONS, which is the second largest disparity in England after London.

Ms Brabin has claimed that championing inclusivity and diversity has been at the heart of her agenda since she was elected West Yorkshire' s first Metropolitan Mayor in May this year.

She announced plans at a WYCA last month to fund an Inclusivity Champion who would oversee that growth in the region would benefit everybody, and committed the Combined Authority to ethnicity pay gap reporting.

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Speaking on the issue, Ms Brabin said she was "proud" to be following other Labour colleagues by committing to ethnicity pay gap reporting.

She said: "I am often asked about what I would like to achieve as the first Mayor of West Yorkshire. My answer - to make people’s lives a little bit easier.

"We have all been through so much, especially throughout the pandemic, and I really want to be able to bring about change that people across the region can feel in their day to day lives."

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