Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2012
01 Mar 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Living Wage
The committee took evidence from a variety of witnesses, whom I thank for their valuable contribution to the inquiry. I pay tribute to the committee clerks for their work in helping members to produce a balanced report.
The committee agreed that, all things being equal, the living wage is an admirable aspiration that we would all want to achieve. At present, the living wage is paid by the Scottish Government which, in directly attributable costs, spent just over £1.7 million on introducing it. The NHS and—as at the time of the report—seven local authorities in Scotland pay the living wage, and the minister confirmed today that more local authorities have introduced it since then.
In the region that I represent, South Lanarkshire Council spent £3.5 million in 2011-12 on introducing the living wage. From April 2012, a further £2 million was spent on increasing the rate of pay to £7.20. In total, that council will have spent a staggering £5.5 million on introducing the living wage. Ultimately, it is up to each council to decide how to prioritise spending decisions. Some councils have delivered the living wage as part of a broader programme of efficiencies in negotiation with unions, which has resulted in net savings that can then be spent on service provision. That is to be welcomed.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on the living wage in Scotland. I call on Joe FitzPatrick to open the debate on behalf of the Local Government and Rege...
Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee City West) (SNP)
SNP
I start by thanking the committee clerks for their diligent work during the inquiry, which resulted in the important report—“Report on the Living Wage in Sco...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
Does the member agree that there was also a lot of scaremongering before the national minimum wage was introduced, which has been shown to be largely false?
Joe FitzPatrick
SNP
That is exactly the point that I was going to make. At the time of the introduction of the minimum wage, the CBI stated that “even a low minimum wage would ...
Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
I am sure that the member is old enough to recall the CBI making similar comments when we stopped sending children up chimneys to sweep them.
Joe FitzPatrick
SNP
I cannot remember that far back. I defer to the member. In fact, in the five years following the introduction of the minimum wage, the unemployment level in...
Mark McDonald (North East Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
A number of councils have established arm’s-length organisations. Those organisations deliver council services but the staff are not directly employed by the...
Joe FitzPatrick
SNP
We questioned local authorities that have introduced the living wage, the most notable of which is Glasgow, about that issue. We received confirmation from t...
The Minister for Local Government and Planning (Derek Mackay)
SNP
I am pleased to open the debate on behalf of the Government. The bad news is that I will also close on behalf of the Government. I am pleased to see that th...
Kezia Dugdale (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Has the minister just given a commitment to a living wage for all employees in an independent Scotland?
Derek Mackay
SNP
I am sure that that could be part of our considerations for an independent Scotland. Access to this country’s full resources would give us many choices about...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Further to Kezia Dugdale’s point, the powers for the national minimum wage may rest with Westminster, but it would be in the gift of the Scottish Government ...
Derek Mackay
SNP
Such decision making is a matter for local government discretion. We do not have to create funds to achieve a policy objective, and I announced last week tha...
Gavin Brown
Con
The report states that seven local authorities have implemented the living wage. The minister has said that a majority have implemented it, so, for the sake ...
Derek Mackay
SNP
Six councils have agreed to implement the living wage for the financial year 2012-13: Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Moray, North Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross,...
Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
I, too, welcome the debate. I read the committee’s report with interest and would like to congratulate the committee, the clerks and all those who gave evide...
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I remind Ms Boyack that, when the Labour Party was in government in the UK, it had control over the national minimum wage but that, despite the campaign to i...
Sarah Boyack
Lab
The Labour Government increased the national minimum wage repeatedly to ensure that it kept up. The fact that we are discussing the living wage now is testam...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott)
Con
You should close now, please.
Sarah Boyack
Lab
That is why we would support the implementation of the living wage. I hope that the Scottish Government will listen to us today, as we need that political wi...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Con
I call Margaret Mitchell. You have six minutes. 15:23
Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con)
Con
The committee took evidence from a variety of witnesses, whom I thank for their valuable contribution to the inquiry. I pay tribute to the committee clerks f...
Kezia Dugdale
Lab
I was at the committee when the member argued that that money would be better spent on potholes. Does she regret her comments on the living wage somehow repr...
Margaret Mitchell
Con
I regret anything that takes away from service provision. The raison d’être for any local authority is service provision, and that must come first. The hars...
John Mason
SNP
Will the member give way?
Margaret Mitchell
Con
I am sorry, but I have only six minutes, and I have a particular view to put over. It is more worrying that, in its written submission, CBI Scotland stated ...
Stewart Maxwell (West Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Margaret Mitchell
Con
I have already explained that I have only six minutes. I am sorry that I cannot take an intervention; normally, I would do so. In essence, the Scottish Cham...
John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I declare an interest. Prior to coming into the Parliament in May 2007, I was the director of the Scottish Low Pay Unit. I also served on the Trades Union Co...
John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome the committee report and the general level of debate that we have had so far. I am pleased that, under our new arrangements, we will look at the is...