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Being broadcast widely today, the above TUC claim is not yet confirmed by official data. The most recent data from the ONS in October 2025, reveals this:

The gender pay gap varied substantially between regions in April 2025. It was lower in Northern Ireland (1.1%), Wales (1.9%) and Scotland (3.5%) than in every region of England. This is a different pattern from April 1997, when the gender pay gap was lowest in London, as shown in Figure 8.

^{https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/genderpaygapintheuk/2025#the-gender-pay-gap-by-region}

The average for England is 8.8%, more than twice that in Scotland.

There are issues with these comparisons due to demography, especially the number of women working, often lower paid, in the different areas which might narrow the gap between Scotland and some English regions but which would also narrow it with Wales and northern Ireland.

But, imagine it was the other way round and the gender pay gap in Scotland was twice that in England?

The gender pay gap in Scotland, clear in the above graph, has fallen further, from being very similar to that in England in 1997 to being between a half and a quarter of that in English regions.

Had it been the opposite the ‘SNP’ government would be blamed so they must take some credit.

Have they done anything directly to change it?

Yes, this in 2019: A fairer Scotland for women: gender pay gap action plan: https://www.gov.scot/publications/fairer-scotland-women-gender-pay-gap-action-plan/

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