To receive an update on progress made against the recommendations of the Oxford Living Wage Review Group in March 2018.

The Committee had before it a report setting out an update on progress made against the recommendations of the Oxford Living Wage Review Group in March 2018, and a report from the Good Food Oxford organisation. The Leader of the Council, Councillor Susan Brown, and the Economic Development Manager, Matt Peachey, introduced the report and answered questions.

The Committee discussed the report, the actions taken to promote the Oxford Living Wage and how to reduce obstacles to adoption by more local businesses.

The Committee noted

·         the ambition for Oxford to be accredited as a ‘real living wage city’ (Dundee being the first) and that work had started to achieve this;

·         proposals to develop a self-accreditation scheme for employers;

·         employers were also encouraged to follow Living Wage Foundation guidelines for their apprenticeships and trainees.

The Committee noted that 11.1% of jobs in the City were estimated to pay below the Real Living Wage in 2015, falling to 10.3% in 2018, showing a move in the right direction. This was well below the 22.8% UK average. However, this is couched against Oxford being the most unaffordable City in the UK, with a significant portion of people living in some of the most deprived areas nationally.

The Committee expressed support for the direction of travel, and the need to continue promoting the Oxford Living Wage with local employers. The increasing number of local employers becoming living wage accredited was also positive to note. A discussion took place on the challenges faced in certain sectors and supply chairs, where outsourced work to third party employers was often paid at the minimum wage only. The retail, catering, care and cleaning sectors were highlighted in particular as often paying below the Oxford Living Wage. The Committee also gave support to the Leader for writing to Oxford University’s Colleges to ask them to pay the Oxford Living Wage to their staff, the majority of which did not.

The Committee asked what opportunities there might be to incentivise businesses to pay the Oxford Living Wage. It was explained that some councils including Ealing and Brent were offering a business rates discount scheme for London Living Wage employers. In Ealing for example, a discount of £50 to £1000 is offered to businesses depending on the number of employees, which accounts for two years’ worth of living wage accreditation fees.   The Committee did not recommend pursuing this approach specifically, but instead they are recommending that this and other incentives be explored as options in the future.

The Committee made clear that it wished to see more promotion of the Oxford Living Wage targeted towards customers. Specifically, there is a need to highlight which companies are Oxford Living Wage employers, and promote conscience driven spending by the public with these shops and services. This means delivering a campaign that asks the public to think twice before spending (both online and in person) with companies which do not offer the Oxford Living Wage to its employees. The process will also highlight the social value added by supporting fair wage employers.

The Committee noted that that Council is not the only partner in driving forward the Living Wage agenda. There are several campaign and pressure groups that exist which are undertaking similar activities to encourage Living Wage and Oxford Living Wage accreditation. The Committee is therefore recommending that further engagement takes place with these groups to maximise the cumulative effect of their work.

The Committee commented that employers could also be encouraged to eliminate any pay gap between male and female employees.

The Committee agreed to make recommendations to the City Executive Board:

1.    That the Council continues to seek out ways to incentivise local businesses to become Oxford Living Wage accredited employers.  .

2.  That the Council’s promotional activity around the Oxford Living Wage incorporates customer facing marketing, which encourages conscience driven spending with Oxford Living Wage accredited shops and services.

3.    That the Council engages with trade unions, campaign groups, parish councils and other community groups to broaden the pool of pressure groups in the City and better coordinate the local Oxford Living Wage campaign