Utility Week

22 | 20TH - 26TH APRIL 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets She says the company has taken multi- ple actions to raise the number of women in these roles, such as launching a STEM ambassador programme, and an educational outreach programme called Futures. "In fact, in the past few months alone we have appointed two female directors to Horizon," she says. To ensure this continues, Horizon intends to develop further programmes that "provide opportunities for growth and progression and, where necessary, intentionally focus on and encourage high-performing women to participate in such programmes". Danish renewables firm Orsted (for- merly Dong) had some of the lowest gaps at -1.3 per cent (median) and 5.8 per cent (mean). UK managing director Matthew Wright says there is "still more to do if we are to close the gap down to zero, which is our ambition". "Gender diversity is a recognised indus- try challenge and we are taking steps to help find solutions," he adds, citing Orsted's involvement in initiatives such as Powerful Women and the Women into Manufacturing and Engineering scheme. "We also have schemes focused spe- cifically on finding and developing our tal- ented women; such as our new Spotlight programme," explains Wright. "Our human resources policies are family friendly and designed to retain parents and carers and support them in having a work-life balance that suits them, their family and the needs of the business." Water The water supply, sewerage and waste sec- tor performed far better than the electricity and gas sector, coming in below the national average with a median pay gap of 6.9 per cent and a mean pay gap of 5.5 per cent. In the case of the latter, this was the lowest figure for any sector in the coun- try, although on the first count the sec- tor was nearer the middle of the rankings. The median gender bonus gap was 5 per cent and the mean gender bonus gap was 12 per cent. With a median pay gap of 28.6 per cent and a mean pay gap of 24.8 per cent, Affin- ity Water was arguably the worst performing of the water companies. United Utilities did have a significantly higher mean wage gap of 36.7 per cent, although its median figure was much lower at 16.7 per cent. Affinity Water released only a brief com- ment in response to the statistics, stating that the company is "working to understand in more detail the reasons behind our gender pay gap, so we can identify actions we need to take". The companies with the smallest gaps were the retailers Scottish Water Business Stream and Pennon Group's Source for Busi- ness. They reported respective pay gaps of 1.9 per cent (median) and -1.2 per cent (mean) and -1.2 per cent (median) and 2.6 per cent (mean). Commenting on Yorkshire Water's figures of 4.7 per cent (median) and 4.8 per cent (mean), chief executive Richard Flint says the company is not complacent, and adds: "This reporting is just the first step in a series of measures that will help us to improve not just our gender balance, but the overall diversity of our whole workforce." Conclusion While these statistics may by themselves be a blunt tool for dissecting gender diver- sity among utilities, they do provide some valuable insight into how the industry is performing. They demonstrate how the energy sector in particular has a long way to go to over- come its history of male dominance and address the lack of women in senior roles, which is oen evident at industry events. "Gender pay gap reporting is a game- changer in terms of workplace culture and practices," says Sam Smethers, chief execu- tive of the Fawcett Society. "It forces employ- ers to look at themselves and understand their organisations and it prompts employ- ees to ask some hard questions." Utilities now have a benchmark against which they can measure their progress. WATER Company Median Pay Gap (%) Mean Pay Gap (%) Affinity Water Limited 28.6 24.8 Anglian Water Services Limited 16.9 10.1 Bristol Water PLC 21.6 16 Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig (Welsh Water) 7.5 5.8 Northumbrian Water Limited 17.2 11.5 Portsmouth Water Limited 13.1 14.7 Scottish Water Business Stream Limited 1.9 -1.2 Severn Trent Water Limited 14.6 2.4 Source for Business Limited -1.2 2.6 South East Water Limited 25 25 Southern Water Services Limited 9 9.5 South Staffordshire Water PLC 16.5 15.8 South West Water Limited 10.1 4 Sutton and East Surrey Water Limited 17.4 15.8 Thames Water Utilities Limited 15.4 13.3 United Utilities Group PLC 15.9 13.1 United Utilities PLC 16.7 36.7 United Utilities Water Limited 15.2 12.3 Water Plus Limited 17.5 16.7 Wessex Water Services Limited 4.4 7.3 Yorkshire Water Services Limited 4.7 4.8 MEDIAN GENDER PAY GAP BY INDUSTRY Industry Median gap Mean gap Construction 24.8% 21.8% Financial and insurance activities 22.1% 25.9% Education 19.5% 15.6% Mining and quarrying 17.9% 20.8% Information and communication 17.9% 19.4% Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 16.2% 15.4% Professional, scientific and technical activities 15.5% 19.0% Public sector 14.0% 15.0% Not declared 13.7% 16.0% Real estate activities 10.5% 17.0% Manufacturing 10.0% 13.3% Other service activities 7.9% 12.7% Public administration and defence; compulsory social security 7.6% 8.3% Agriculture, forestry and fishing 7.4% 13.0% Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities 6.9% 5.5% Transportation and storage 6.8% 10.3% Administrative and support 6.5% 12.7% service activities Wholesale 6.0% 15.0% Arts, entertainment and recreation 3.7% 19.8% Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies 3.1% 9.4% Human health and social work activities 1.6% 9.7% Accommodation and food service activities 1.0% 8.4% Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods – and services – producing activities of households for own use 0.7% 12.5% The water sector does comparatively well

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