Living Wage plan at Highland Council is no further forward, members are told
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Highland Council's work towards living wage status has stalled, the local authority's leader admitted.
Councillor Margaret Davidson confirmed that a year after councillors approved a motion to work towards the status, work has not been progressed due to “pressures” on staff.
The local authority voted “to achieve ‘Living Wage’ designation status for the Highland Council Area to provide benefit and support for lower paid employees” in December 2020.
The issue was raised again in a written question to full council by Cllr Ken Gowans, who asked: “What tangible evidence is there that any further progress has been made to date?”
Cllr Davidson responded: “Given the pressures facing the economic development team in supporting employability and wider economic recovery, it has not been possible to move this initiative on further since the last report in May.
“I can give a commitment that the matter will be raised at the next Highland Economic Recovery Partnership and the views of business leaders taken on board, following which a realistic and achievable programme of work will be developed and communicated to members.
“A key priority of this council remains to support the business community in Highland to recover from the economic shock all businesses have suffered from, in a way that supports fair pay and delivery of the aspirations of the motion that was agreed."
