Living Wage

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

The noble Lord makes a good point. It is fair to say that Labour’s plan for encouraging tax breaks to encourage employers to pay the living wage applies for 12 months only and will cover less than one-third of the increased cost to the employer. Increasing the cost of employment could encourage businesses to employ fewer people. Labour’s estimates of the cost of this policy ignore these issues, and the party has considered only potential benefits to the Exchequer.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top (Lab)]

My Lords, I wonder if the—

[Baroness Howarth of Breckland (CB)]

My Lords, I do not think any of the Minister’s replies have explained how his strategy will take out of poverty the millions of children who have just been illustrated in the report of one of the Government’s own commissions. It recognises that many families where there is childhood poverty, even though someone in the household is employed, are not being helped. What strategy do the Government therefore have to reach the jointly agreed target to take children out of poverty in the next decade?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

Several strategies are in place, but above all the main point is to encourage more jobs. We have created many millions of jobs and encouraged apprenticeships over the past few years since 2010. That is the way forward: to increase employment and job security for all in the UK.

[Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top]

I wonder if the Minister would say more about the report today from the social—

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Hill of Oareford)]

I am sorry, my Lords, I was hopeful that the noble Baroness could have got in, but we have a rule and the 30 minutes are up. I am so sorry.