NICOLA Sturgeon will today announce plans to help close the gender pay gap in Scottish public bodies, by forcing them to publish the difference between male and female salaries.

UK wide regulations force public sector bodies with more than 250 employees to disclose their gender pay gap and make statements on equal pay.

In Scotland, the threshold is currently 150 employees - but will now become just 20 staff.

In a speech to Unite Scotland’s first policy conference, the First Minister will reveal her has government tabled legislation to bring about the change.

She will say: “In promoting good employment practices, I want the public sector to lead by example. The gender pay gap has reduced in Scotland in recent years, but we know it remains a persistent problem.

“One way to challenge it is to shine a light on it and to force organisations to look at how they determine pay and who is paid what.

“The [new] regulations go further than elsewhere in the UK and are a further recognition that the gender pay gap has no place in a modern and equal society.”