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| Preston city council on course to becoming north's first Living Wage employer | Preston city council on course to becoming north's first Living Wage employer |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Rachel Reeves, Labour MP for Leeds West and Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury has today announced that Preston is among a further eight Labour-controlled local authorities on their way to becoming accredited Living Wage Employers. | Rachel Reeves, Labour MP for Leeds West and Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury has today announced that Preston is among a further eight Labour-controlled local authorities on their way to becoming accredited Living Wage Employers. |
| Under the Living Wage model, which enjoys cross-party support, employers voluntarily opt in to paying the wage which is a calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK - sums done by the Centre for Research in Social Policy. | Under the Living Wage model, which enjoys cross-party support, employers voluntarily opt in to paying the wage which is a calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK - sums done by the Centre for Research in Social Policy. |
| Announcing the list, which will make Preston the party's first northern authority to achieve the status, Reeves told delegates at the Labour conference in Manchester: | Announcing the list, which will make Preston the party's first northern authority to achieve the status, Reeves told delegates at the Labour conference in Manchester: |
| When Ed Miliband talks about an economy that works for working people, some people ask what that means in practical terms. Well now we're going to talk about a very concrete example. The campaign for a living wage that's been built by trade unions, community groups, and our own Labour Students, and increasingly taken up by far-sighted employers, give us a great example of the kind of change we want to see, and the kind of difference it can make to people's lives. The argument for a living wage is moral and economic. | When Ed Miliband talks about an economy that works for working people, some people ask what that means in practical terms. Well now we're going to talk about a very concrete example. The campaign for a living wage that's been built by trade unions, community groups, and our own Labour Students, and increasingly taken up by far-sighted employers, give us a great example of the kind of change we want to see, and the kind of difference it can make to people's lives. The argument for a living wage is moral and economic. |
| It's based on the belief that work should bring the dignity of a decent wage - enough to keep a family out of poverty and debt. | It's based on the belief that work should bring the dignity of a decent wage - enough to keep a family out of poverty and debt. |
Outlining how the policy is a win-win for employers and employees alike, she continued: | Outlining how the policy is a win-win for employers and employees alike, she continued: |
| It can mean stronger business models, based on better skilled, better motivated, more productive employees. Those employers that have implemented the policy - including an increasing number in the private sector - report that the extra money put into the pockets of their employees is more than made up for by the savings they make as a result of improved recruitment and retention, and the benefits to their business of the boost it gives to staff morale and engagement. | It can mean stronger business models, based on better skilled, better motivated, more productive employees. Those employers that have implemented the policy - including an increasing number in the private sector - report that the extra money put into the pockets of their employees is more than made up for by the savings they make as a result of improved recruitment and retention, and the benefits to their business of the boost it gives to staff morale and engagement. |
| Coun Matthew Brown, Preston's Cabinet member for community engagement and inclusion says: /> | |
| Preston City Council was one of the first authorities to embrace the living wage, which we now pay to all staff. We also encourage contractors and other local businesses to do the same. I am delighted Preston is one of 12 authorities on the way to receiving this accreditation, which marks our achievement in this area. | |
The other seven councils in today's announcement are Birmingham, Cardiff, Oxford and the London boroughs of Camden, Hounslow, Lambeth and Southwark. They join the previously announced front-runners of Glasgow and the London boroughs of Hackney, Islington and Lewisham. | |
| Turning the whole of York into a Living Wage city is a key aim of the York Fairness Commission, as reported in the Guardian Northerner yesterday, Monday 1 October. | Turning the whole of York into a Living Wage city is a key aim of the York Fairness Commission, as reported in the Guardian Northerner yesterday, Monday 1 October. |
| Ed Jacobs is a political consultant at the Leeds based Public Affairs Company and devolution correspondent for the centre-left political and policy blog, Left Foot Forward. | Ed Jacobs is a political consultant at the Leeds based Public Affairs Company and devolution correspondent for the centre-left political and policy blog, Left Foot Forward. |