THE gender pay gap has widened in York at a time when it has narrowed nationally and regionally.

Latest figures show there has been a 6.45 per cent increase in the gap between average pay for men and women in the city.

York’s average gap of £221.20 is still lower than the regional average of £233.60 and the national figure of £249.50, said a report by City of York Council finance manager Patrick Looker, but the rest of the country has improved at a time when York has worsened.

The report was presented to the economic development and transport policy and scrutiny committee. The reason for York bucking the trend has not been explained by the authority, but a Government spokeswoman said the gap was not just about unequal pay for comparable jobs, saying women tended to be concentrated in occupations and sectors that offered narrower scope for financial reward.

“A proportion is due to differences in the years of experience of full-time work or the negative effect on earnings of taking time out of the labour market to look after children or family members,” she said.

She said many older workers needed to keep their skills updated and learn new ones in order to take advantage of employment opportunities in growing sectors.

“You can’t have true opportunity without equality and that’s why eliminating the gender pay gap is a key priority for this government – it isn’t just good for women, it’s essential for our whole country,” she said.

She said the overall gender pay gap was the lowest on record at 19.2 per cent, but said: “We want to see it eliminated in a generation, which is why we will be requiring organisations to publish details of their gender pay gap.”

She added that greater transparency would create the pressure needed to drive change.

Meanwhile, average gross weekly pay has increased by 3.23 per cent in York between 2014 and 2015 to £584.30, while nationally there was a 1.01 per cent increase to £629.50.