Tonight Labour to call for living wage at City Council

Notice of Motion - Living Wage for Newcastle
Councillor Forbes

“Council notes
1. The Living Wage movement, committed to introducing a guaranteed minimum standard of income over and above the National Minimum Wage, which was first introduced on the 1 April 1999.
2. The research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2008 which looked at developing a formula for calculating a minimum income standard. For their purposes, a Living Wage could be defined as the level of income needed to provide an acceptable standard of living in Britain to ensure good health, adequate child development and social inclusion. Following detailed research, they concluded that the living wage for a single working age adult in the UK was £6.88 an hour 2008.

3. The feedback from contractors who have implemented the London Living Wage is that it provides benefits including:

• Easier recruitment and retention, reducing recruitment costs

• Higher quality staff

• Better attendance

• Better productivity, motivation and loyalty

• Better quality of service

4. The Government target to abolish child poverty by 2020, and the important role of the local authority in achieving that in the City.

5. That Newcastle is ranked 37th most deprived local authority by IMD (2007).

6. That Glasgow, Oxford and the previous Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, have all introduced living wages.

 Council believes


1. The National Minimum Wage over the last 10 years has raised the living standards of the lowest paid, and helped close the gap between men and women's pay.
2. That paying a set Living Wage to all Council staff, and for its contractors to do the same, could play a vital role in tackling poverty in Newcastle.
3. That setting a £7 living wage for Newcastle City Council employees or another level determined by a Living Wage Commission representing Trade Unions, public and private sector employers, charities, voluntary and pressure groups, would encourage other employers in the city to also adopt that same Living Wage.”