The Living Wage

Part of 3. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:09 pm on 12 November 2019.

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Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 2:09, 12 November 2019

I'm grateful to the First Minister for his answer, but I'm sure that he will agree with me that we can none of us be pleased that almost a third of our children are living in poverty, and that many of those children have parents who are working—many of them more than one job.

I was pleased to participate yesterday in the launch of the Living Wage Week in west Wales, sponsored by the Burns pet food company in Kidwelly. I was really interested to hear how this relatively small company, with just over 120-odd workers, used contracting to ensure that all staff on their site—not only their directly paid workforce, but all staff on site—are paid the real living wage. And they simply won't contract with a subcontractor unless they do that.

What further steps can the Welsh Government take to ensure that public bodies in Wales follow the example of this innovative small company, and also that support is given to private sector organisations that may wish to do the same?