Labour pushes wage raise

Scarborough Council will decide in January whether to pay its employees the living wage.

It follows a motion proposed by Labour councillor Liz Colling and seconded by her group leader Steve Siddons on Monday at the authority’s Full Council meeting.

Members were be told that the borough is “the low pay capital of Great Britain” which is “a fact we should all be ashamed of.”

The motion added:”Despite inward investment and the promise of potash and offshore industries, we are the lowest median employee salary in the UK at £19,925 – the Great Briain figure is £28,442. We call on the council to improve this damning state of affairs by taking the lead locally.”

They urged the council to pay at least the Living Wage Foundation to all employees; work with suppliers and contractors to the council to encourage them to also pay the same rate; and for the council to ensure that procurement and commissioning spending is, “where possible” made in the borough with businesses paying the Living Wage.

The motion gained support from all sides but a vote on adopting the wage was delayed until January so that the actual cost would be known.

The figure of £16,500 added cost to the council, used for the debate, was a year old. Cllr Colling said she was “thrilled”.