The Real Living Wage
In October 2023 I proposed a motion to Ribble Valley Borough Council for RVBC to pay the Real Living Wage and accredit to the Living Wage Foundation. Narrowly the motion passed despite opposition from the Conservatives. It was the first defeat for the Tories on RVBC in almost fifty years. At the August meeting of the Personnel Committee it was announced that the Council had finally accredited to the Living Wage Foundation. My comments to Full Council on Tuesday evening are below.
“Two years ago this Council voted to accredit to the Living Wage Foundation and pay the Real Living Wage.
I am delighted that it was announced in the Personnel meeting on 27th August that the Council has now affiliated to the Living Wage Foundation.
I would first of all like to say a massive thank you to Marshal Scott for his work on steering the Council through this long process. I would also like to say thank you once again to the Councillors who have supported both the original decision and supported the process along its way. It is a fantastic demonstration of what can be done by working together for the common good. I am proud that whatever else I may manage to achieve in politics, this counts as a massively important achievement.
I must say though that this milestone deserves a far louder announcement than a single line in the Personnel Committee minutes.
I may be getting carried away by suggesting we ask the Town Cryer to announce it from a scroll in the Market Place but I do think a strong awareness campaign to celebrate this Real Living Wage Policy adoption should be undertaken. Would Council be willing to publicly announce our accreditation with fanfare, social media, website, press releases and, yes, let’s go the whole hog actually and see if the town cryer is available? Perhaps this can be done at the same time as we celebrate Real Living Wage week commencing Monday 10th November because I’m sure you will all agree, that is a fantastic way to promote the Real Living Wage and our status as a Living Wage Employer?“
The Original Speech to Full Council
“Mr Mayor thank you for the opportunity to introduce this motion to accredit this Council to the Living Wage Foundation.
Since I was elected in May I’ve noticed the pride by many councillors of their background in business. Many have spoken of the success of their businesses with pride and when we’ve had briefings, for example on the personnel committee from health and safety officers they’ve conveyed a real sense of care for supporting the people who carry out work on our behalf and I want to commend that. As a Labour Councillor this matters to me it’s why my own party was formed over a hundred years ago and continues as one of its core values. It should be acknowledged though that desire to ensure workers thrive need not and is not exclusive to just my party. It’s not a contentious notion that people, so proud of the success of their businesses, could believe that a mark of such success is that all of the people who contribute work to their businesses are given the opportunity to thrive. And this carries over to the work we do here. This motion indisputably makes moral sense.
Mr Mayor, I believe that as Councillors, we should share that same sense of responsibility and commitment to the people who work on our behalf. We should send a message that we care that all our Council staff are given that opportunity to thrive. That’s why I believe that introducing a Living Wage Policy makes financial sense, makes moral sense and it is the right thing to do.
“The basic intuition behind the Foundation Living Wage is a simple one: to determine the wage rate necessary to ensure that households earn enough to reach a minimum acceptable living standard as defined by the public.”
The Foundation Living Wage is set by the Living Wage Foundation currently calculated to £10.90 per hour (Outside of London). There will be new rates introduced on 25th October.
The National Living Wage, a separate concept, which is set by the Government, is the top age band of the National Minimum Wage Structure and is currently set at £10.42 per hour. My Union Unite have said that Four in Ten of every Universal Credit Claimants are in work. Clearly the National Living Wage is not enough for hard working people. There will be new rates announced in April and I’ll leave it to your instinct as to whether that new rate will be closer to the Foundation Living Wage or further away. Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachael Reeves said yesterday that she will align the two standards and lock them together for a Real Living Wage. If the current government were prepared to do that right now then this motion would largely be obsolete. But I’m an impatient man. I don’t think we should wait, if we act now we move with the times rather than falling behind the times. Experience tells us that waiting for the government to do something sets us in for an intolerable wait, the time to do the right thing is always now.
Across the country there are 12,500 recognised Living Wage employers; 10% of which are in the North West, including neighbouring Borough Councils. Several Town Councils are recognised as well as Conservative led Lancashire County Council. To my unending pride Ribchester Parish Council pays the Foundation Living Wage, because it’s the right thing to do.
Mr Mayor, the financial impact on Council finances of this new policy is small. The Council currently employs only two staff below the Foundation Living Wage, on £10.60. Whilst we’re still awaiting the pay final settlement it was stated by the Leader of the Council at the July Council that under the pay offer being consulted on right now, this rate would be raised by 9.4% to £11.60, well above the current Foundation Living Wage rate. This motion would future proof the commitment to a real living wage and future pay negotiations with no unanticipated increases in Council expenditure. We would also be sending a message that we expect external contractors to pay their staff at least Foundation Living Wage. My belief is that there would be only positive effects by this use of our procurement powers. It makes real economic sense.
Mr Mayor, this motion has been consulted with Unison both locally and regionally. We’ve also consulted with the Living Wage Foundation. It was intimated to me by the Leader of the Council that the crucial thing for this motion was to have the support of the Union. And I agree. While we’re still awaiting final settlement on the pay deal, the Ribble Valley Unison Rep has offered advice on wording and continues to fully support this motion.
I’ll sum up now Mr Mayor, when we put money in the pockets of our staff we know that that money is going to be spent locally. Our staff are local to us. They don’t commute from Manchester or Leeds. They spend their money in local shops, local cafes and local pubs. This puts money into our local economy. It builds wealth in our local Community. Our commitment to paying them at least the Foundation Living Wage will allow our staff to lead a rich life and put money into the local economy. When our staff thrive, the local community thrives too.
This motion makes economic sense, this motion makes moral sense. This is the right thing to do and I commend this to the Council.“
KarlBarnsley.com 