Issue - meetings

Motion

Meeting: 26/06/2019 - Council (Item 25)

25 Motions on Notice (to follow if any) PDF 36 KB

A period of up to one hour is allocated to consider the motions on notice. This may only be extended with the agreement of the Council.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Living Wage

Members considered the following Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor P. McDonald:

"This Council ensures in future that all contractors, agencies and any organisation or body carrying out work or research on behalf of this Council, pay its employees/workers at least the ‘Living Wage.”

The Motion was proposed by Councillor McDonald and seconded by Councillor S. Douglas.

In proposing the Motion Councillor McDonald reminded the Chamber that his Group had ensured that no members of staff received less than the living wage. The motion put before Members was an extension of that and would ensure that any contractor employed by the Council did not pay their staff below the rate of the living wage. To not do this would be a double standard for the Council. Councillor McDonald highlighted the struggle of some families to meet the cost of living and how the payment of the living wage would help support them. He saw no excuse for contractors not to meet this requirement. He also referred to the problems of young people, aged 18-20 years, who received a lower rate of pay and needed to work extra hours in order to make ends meet. Councillor McDonald believed that all working age people had a right to a decent standard of live and should not have to rely on food banks for example in order to make ends meet. He therefore put forward the motion for all contractors, agencies and organisations carrying out work on behalf of the Council to be paid the living wage.

Councillor G. Denaro, as Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling responded that through this motion Councillor McDonald was trying to restrict the Council’s choice when employing outside contractors. When a nearly identical motion had been put forward in 2012 by Councillor McDonald it had been referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Board, who had undertaken a full enquiry into all areas, including the mechanism which could be put in place to encourage contractors to pay the Living Wage, the finance cost to the Council in monitoring contracts and what duty, if any, the Council had to ensure its contractors paid the Living Wage. The conclusion of that investigation had been that no further action be taken in respect of the Living Wage. Councillor Denaro confirmed that that conclusion stood today and whatever people may think morally, it was not for the Council to force any view on to its contractors.

In responding to the motion Members made the following comments:

· Including the suggestion as part of the procurement process and the implications of this.

· It was a legal requirement to pay the minimum wage, but not the living wage.

· Why there should be a difference in the rate of pay paid to staff and to contractors, the Council should lead by example and insist on the same for all.

· The lower rate of pay for young people and the reasoning behind this, it was suggested that some would not have the experience or knowledge ... view the full minutes text for item 25