Venue: Council Chamber - South Cambs Hall. View directions
Contact: Ian Senior 01954 713000 Email: democratic.services@scambs.gov.uk
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Apologies for Absence To receive Apologies for Absence from Committee members. |
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Declarations of Interest |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting To authorise the Chair to sign, as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2024. |
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Public Questions If you would like to ask a question or make a statement, then please refer to the Document called Public Speaking Scheme (Physical Meetings) and contact Democratic Services by no later than 11.59pm three clear working days before the meeting.
Elizabeth McWilliams will ask the following question:
“Whilst pleased to see that in the 2024 Pay Policy Statement, the Council will ‘have regard to the Living Wage Foundation hourly rate when it agrees annual pay awards’, I remain disappointed that it has ruled out accreditation to the Living Wage Foundation.
Accreditation gives employees a guarantee that they will continue to be paid a fair minimum wage each year. Furthermore, those paid by external contractors to work on Council projects are also guaranteed a living wage – something not currently the case (and it should be noted that 70% of children in poverty live in working households). Accreditation then not only benefits Council employees, but also has a positive ripple effect on the community. Since Cambridge City Council accredited in 2014, more than 40 local employers have done so as a direct result and as a key part of its Anti-Poverty Strategy. Research in 2018 showed that if a quarter of low-paid workers moved up to the real Living Wage across the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority area, the local economy across this area would grow by £15m*.
I have lobbied this Council to accredit previously and two things have led me to believe South Cambs does not understand the cost and/or process involved. Firstly, a Councillor at the time quoted the cost of accreditation to me which was incorrect by a factor of 10, not reflecting the Local Authority discount (£480 as opposed to £4,800); and secondly, a member of the HR team told me that ‘the requirement for us to police the wage rates of our suppliers and their subcontractors […] brings with it costs above the accreditation fee’. However, on accreditation, phased implementation (where the Local Authority is supported by the Foundation) means that the Living Wage is rolled out across third party contracts over time, as the contracts come up for renewal. This does not sound difficult or time-consuming for officers to manage when considered with the benefits of doing so.
Please could the Council let me know how much research has been done into the costs and process of accreditation prior to rejecting it, for example but not limited to: engaging directly with the Living Wage Foundation; downloading and reading the Living Wage Foundation toolkit for local authorities; discussing the management of third-party contracts with other local authorities who are accredited such as Cambridge City Council and/or the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority?”
[* Hunter P, The local Living Wage dividend: An analysis of the impact of the Living Wage on ten city regions, London: The Smith Institute (2018), http://www.smith-institute.org.uk and search Living Wage]
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Pay Policy Statement Additional documents: |