Issue - meetings

Matter for Decision

The Officer’s report provided an assessment of the implications of requiring the Council’s contractors to pay staff who qualify for the Living Wage an increased rate of £10 per hour. The report was presented for information only and any decision would need to be considered as part of the Council’s budget setting process.

Decision of the Executive Councillor for Finance and Resources

i.             Noted the findings of the report regarding the implications of requiring contractors to pay qualifying staff a minimum of £10 per hour when working on Council contracts.

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee received a report from the Equality and Anti-Poverty Officer.

The Committee made the following comments in response to the report:

     i.        Sought clarification on whether costs provided by the suppliers took into account costs associated with uprating staff wages related to maintaining company pay structures.

    ii.        Asked where there were issues of recruitment and retention of staff in low paid positions undertaking work for the Council.

The Equality and Anti-Poverty Officer said the following in response to Members’ questions:

       i.       Uplifting wages of the lowest paid could, in many instances, have an impact on pay differentials suppliers have put in place. The gap between the Living Wage rate of £8.75 and the £10 rate would mean a high percentage of supervisor rates (and potentially pay scales up the chain) would need to increase as well. Some, but not all, of the figures provided by contractors included the potential costs of uprating wages of staff paid over £10 per hour in order to keep pay differentials for roles with different levels of responsibility. In most cases suppliers did not provide information as to how they arrived at the cost they shared, which meant we could not identify the proportion of estimated costs that would go towards uprating wages of those paid over £10 per hour.

     ii.       Two of the five suppliers also felt that paying the £10 rate would help with the recruitment and retention of staff.

The Chief Executive said the following in response to Members’ questions:

     i.        Apart from those contractors who provided responses to the Equality and Anti-Poverty Officer, the Council experienced recruitment and retention issues with specialist staff where there was competition with roles in the private sector.

The Committee unanimously resolved to endorse the recommendations.

The Executive Councillor noted the recommendations.

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted)

No conflicts of interest were declared by the Executive Councillor.