Hackney Council to review London Living Wage policy

“Other councils are managing to work their way through the red tape governing local authority contracts in order to end poverty pay – Hackney needs to do the same.” Photograph: Hackney Citizen

Hackney Council is to review its pay policy as nearby authorities agree to pay all those doing council work a living wage.

Although all direct Hackney Town Hall employees are paid the London Living Wage, currently £8.30 per hour, some carrying out council work through private companies, such as cleaners, are not.

Islington and Lewisham Councils have received the Living Wage Foundation accreditation for ensuring that all those employed directly or indirectly by those boroughs are paid at least £8.30 per hour.

Hackney Council claimed it was looking into the prospect in ensuring  the London Living Wage for all its workers, including those sub-contracted, but did not indicate if or when it might be successful.

A spokesperson said: “The council has long promoted payment of the London Living Wage by all our external providers, where we use them, and our procurement processes now formally consider London Living Wage as part of the tender process.

“We take steps to both encourage and secure the London Living Wage through contractors to the extent possible under the legal constraints of our statuary Best Value obligations.

We are currently examining the implications of being able to offer this assurance for all our contracts in the light of recent statutory changes affecting procurement.”

While not all council workers in Islington and Lewisham are yet paid £8.30 an hour, the two authorities have made huge strides towards ensuring this and have vowed to make this a reality within certain timeframes.

Islington councillor Andy Hull admits it is very difficult for a council to persuade contractor companies to pay the London Living Wage, but claimed Islington Council’s success can be attributed to its determination.

He told the Hackney Citizen: “I’m sure what we’ve done is legal with regards to Best Value, but I’m also sure that what we have done is push the envelope as far as we could.

“Our senior councillors have been 110% committed to the cause and we’ve had to be very hardnosed in our negotiations with contractors.”

He added: “If I was advising my colleagues in Hackney I would say, if you get the council top dogs involved and mean it, you can do a long way [toward obliging them to pay the London Living Wage].”

Darren Johnson AM, Green Party Member of the London Assembly and Lewisham councillor, criticised Hackney Council: “Other councils are managing to work their way through the red tape governing local authority contracts in order to end poverty pay – Hackney needs to do the same,” he told the Hackney Citizen.

“Not only is a Living Wage policy the right thing to do socially and morally, there is also a strong business case. Those companies paying the London Living Wage report a better motivated workforce, lower sickness absence, lower turnover and lower costs.”