28 November 2008
By Tash Shifrin
Manchester City Council is to introduce its own minimum wage, set more than a pound higher than the national rate. The £6.74 an hour minimum wage – bringing the lowest salaries up to £12,299 a year – follows the Greater London Authority’s adoption of the London Living Wage, which now stands at £7.45 an hour. The statutory national minimum wage is £5.73. Bernard Priest, Manchester’s executive member for finance and human resources, said ‘a couple’ of other city councils had already been in touch, a sign that the idea is attracting increasing interest among local authorities. Manchester council’s main motive for establishing the new minimum rate, which will be paid to 851 current staff and to new starters from April, is to improve residents’ economic position. ‘We’re a council that serves a city with a lot of deprivation and poverty and we’re keen to help residents through what promises to be a very difficult couple of years,’ Priest said. ‘We will get benefits as a council, but it’s part of our strategy for improving the economic wellbeing of our residents.’ Although the number of council staff affected is not significant in terms of the city’s population overall, it is hoped other local employers will follow its lead and adopt the Manchester minimum. Talks with local employers had already started, Priest added. The council also believes the minimum wage will reduce employee turnover among low-paid staff such as childcare workers, bus escorts and cleaners. Current turnover rates of 15% were ‘too high’ for these staff, whose work was ‘more important’ than their wages suggested, Priest said. This will increase the council’s costs by around £87,000 a year, which will be paid for by efficiency gains made over the past four years, Priest added.
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