Equality watchdog pays women less

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The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), which has had Jenny Watson as its woman chair since November 2005, receives £9 million a year from the Government to push for employees to be treated the same regardless of their gender.

However, the average salary for women working at the EOC is £25,128 - almost £2,000 less than the £26,962 paid to men.

Tory MP Philip Davies - who tabled questions in Parliament to obtain the figures - said the organisation should "practise what it preaches".

He told the News of the World: "It is unbelievable that an organisation that gets taxpayers' money to promote equal pay for men and women pays its male workers more that it pays its women.

"You really couldn't make this up. The organisation can't even practise what it preaches to everyone else. You really have got to ask what the point of the organisation is."

An EOC spokesman said direct comparisons between pay for men and women were difficult.

"Of course we are committed to treating men and women staff equally - it is our remit," he told the newspaper.

Nationally, the average full-time hourly wage for a man is £14.08, compared to £11.67 for a woman.

The Commission for Equality and Human Rights is due to replace the EOC, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission in October.