Meeting of the Parliament 05 November 2014
No, thanks—I am running out of time.
We want to go further, because we believe that employers should reward their staff fairly. That is why we are calling on all companies across Scotland to follow the Scottish Government’s lead and introduce the living wage. As well as setting an example in our pay policy, we have funded a pilot by the Poverty Alliance to promote take-up of the accreditation scheme and increase the number of employers who pay the living wage in all sectors in Scotland. That campaign is being rolled out over 2014-15, and I was delighted to hear the Poverty Alliance announce yesterday that the number of accredited living wage employers in Scotland has tripled.
In addition, we are using our powers on procurement to encourage the payment of the living wage. The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 demonstrates our clear intention to use our powers to put the living wage into public contracts while acting within European Union law. The 2014 act will require public bodies to outline their living wage policy in their procurement strategies. It will also see Scottish ministers publish statutory guidance on the fact that workforce matters, including the living wage, should be a factor when bidders for a contract are selected. That will be the first time that statutory guidance has been put in place to address that issue.
In addition to that legislation, we are conducting a pilot project on Scottish Government contracts, which encourages bidders to take a positive approach to their workforce package, including the living wage and—importantly—other terms and conditions. Those measures clearly show that this Government is already doing substantially more than has been done by the current UK Government and previous Labour Administrations in Holyrood and at Westminster.
Following the publication of the “Working Together Review: Progressive Workplace Policies in Scotland”, the First Minister announced the establishment of a fair work convention, which will provide leadership on industrial relations and encourage dialogue between unions, employers, public sector bodies and Government. The convention will exert greater Scottish influence over the minimum wage while championing other aspects of good industrial relations, including payment of the living wage. It will be a powerful advocate of a partnership approach to industrial relations in Scotland.
I move amendment S4M-11398.2, to leave out from “welcomes the pledge” to end and insert:
“welcomes the fact that the Scottish Government is the first government in the UK to pay the living wage to all staff and those covered by its pay policy, including the NHS; notes the efforts of the Scottish Government to engage with the European Commission on including the living wage as a condition of procurement; further notes that neither the Department of Energy and Climate Change nor the London Assembly includes the living wage as part of commercial tenders; welcomes the success of the Scottish Government in securing the payment of the living wage in public contracts as demonstrated in both the new ScotRail contract and the Scottish Government catering contract, which will benefit 50 staff who were previously paid the national minimum wage; further welcomes the report of the Working Together Review, which was commissioned by the Scottish Government, and the announcement by the First Minister of the establishment of the Fair Work Convention; notes that the Scottish Government is producing new guidance that will help all public bodies focus on how workforce-related matters, including the living wage, can be included in contracts, and shares the concern of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation about the Labour Party’s inappropriate announcement of a minimum wage level for 2020 and that the Labour proposals will, based on estimates of inflation, not even meet living costs in 2020.”
16:09Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.
- S4M-11398.2 The Living Wage Motion