Agenda item

To consider the following motion received from Councillor N Clarke:

“Council notes:

That a growing number of local authorities are now paying the Living Wage.

That the Living Wage is a level of pay which is based on the principle of decency that work should pay at least enough to provide for the essentials of life.

That the Living Wage has been independently set nationally at £7.65 and £8.80 for London per hour.

Therefore this Council;

·        Supports the introduction of the Living Wage for all its employees with effect from 1 April 2014

·        Works towards accreditation as a Living Wage Employer.

·        Seeks to ensure its contractors and suppliers of goods and services do likewise.

·        Uses its influence to encourage all employers within the District to also implement the living wage for their employees”.

Councillor N Clarke moved the following motion:

“Council notes:

That a growing number of local authorities are now paying the Living Wage.

That the Living Wage is a level of pay which is based on the principle of decency that work should pay at least enough to provide the essentials of life.

That the Living Wage has been independently set nationally at £7.95 and £8.80 for London per hour.

Therefore this Council:

-   Supports the introduction of the Living Wage for all its employees with effect from April 2014.

-   Works towards accreditation as a Living Wage Employer.

-   Seeks to ensure its contractors and suppliers of goods and services do likewise.

-   Uses its influence to encourage all employers within the District to also implement the Living Wage for their employees.”

Councillor N Clarke stated that he was delighted that the Council was adopting the living wage for its employees, he then urged Members to fully commit and support the motion.  He explained that it was proven that adopting the Living Wage improved the standard of work as it motivated employees, this in turn would improve the service.  He stressed the importance of encouraging others to adopt the Living Wage and since employers had no pressure to do so, the Council should be applying the necessary pressure.  He concluded that this would improve the local economy, lift people out of poverty and restore people’s dignity.

The motion was seconded by Councillor D De Lacy. 

Councillor J Bridges stated that he could not support the motion due to the way it was worded as administering it for contractors would be impossible.  He stressed that there should have been some cross party discussion before the motion was submitted to get it right.  Councillor P Hyde stressed that it was possible as other Councils and contractors already worked in that way.

Councillor D Everitt reiterated the comments from Councillor P Hyde and explained that he understood it was possible from his past working experience.  He added that he was disappointed that the Conservative group could not support the motion as they were missing a good opportunity.

Councillor T J Pendleton reported that the Living Wage was receiving support from many employers and was pleased that the Council was committed to it also.  He believed that it was wrong to tell employers what they should be paying their employees and the Council was setting an example by adopting the Living Wage.

Councillor L Spence stated that he was proud that the Council had adopted the Living Wage but was disappointed that the Conservative group would not support the motion in its entirety.  He believed that the Council should act as an ambassador as it has done in the past on other initiatives and asked for further discussions on the topic outside of the meeting.  Councillor J Legrys agreed with these comments.

Councillor J Legrys reported that approximately £24 billion was spent nationally on housing benefit and this was a burden on the tax payer.  He commented that although the Council’s staff would be paid the Living Wage, there was a high amount of agency workers at the Council that would not be, in his opinion that was immoral.  He concluded that he was bitterly disappointed that the Conservative group were choosing not to support the motion.

Councillor D De Lacy commented that the point of paying the Living Wage was to provide the basic essentials in life and it was the moral thing to do as an employer.  He believed the Council could be proud of paying the Living Wage and the main thrust of the motion was to demonstrate to others what to do.  The Council was already doing what was needed for the accreditation; the only thing left to do was to check if indirect staff were also receiving the Living Wage.  He finally asked Members to consider if they were paying their staff the Living Wage and whether it should be declared before moving to the vote.

Using his right of reply, Councillor N Clarke stated that since publishing the motion on the agenda, the Conservative group could have discussed the matter with him before the meeting to come to an agreement but they did not.  Also the Conservative group had the opportunity to submit an amendment to the motion but they did not.

At this point the Chairman reminded Members of their obligation to declare an interest under the code of conduct and invited Members to make any declarations if necessary.  No declarations were made.

The motion was put to the vote and declared LOST.