The Living Wage

Part of 3. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 12 November 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:10, 12 November 2019

I thank Helen Mary Jones for that additional question. It was great to have the opportunity yesterday, here in Cardiff at the start of the day, and I know in Kidwelly later in the day, to mark real Living Wage Week here in Wales. And just as she was able to celebrate the success of a company in west Wales, so those of us from around the Chamber who were here in the Pierhead yesterday morning were able to celebrate the announcement of Cardiff as the first major urban area in the United Kingdom to be awarded living wage city status. That's a real testament to the leadership of the city council on the one hand, but also private sector companies who spoke at that event as well.

One of the main ways we have been taking this forward, of course, has been through the code of practice on ethical employment in supply chains—exactly the point that Helen Mary was making. Two hundred and eleven organisations have signed up to the code to date; 58 of those are from the public sector, but 153 are private organisations. And in many ways, we rely on the missionary spirit of firms such as the one in Kidwelly that explain to their peers why the actions that they are taking are not simply good for employees but are good for employers as well. That was the point that was being made in the Pierhead yesterday by employers.

Employers who pay the real living wage have a bonus of additional loyalty and commitment from their workers. Those people spend longer with them, they build up their success, they make an additional contribution to the success of that firm. So, it's not just altruism that we are asking for from the private sector, it's enlightened self-interest as well. And companies explaining that to other companies has been the way in which we have had the success we have had in getting those 153 private organisations to be signatories of the code already.