Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Grant Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

As we have heard, this Government are going to invest £7 billion in this Parliament until 2021 to create more good school places. I encourage my hon. Friends the Members for Shipley (Philip Davies) and for Keighley (Kris Hopkins) to consider whether an application for a free school might also be in order so that parents and others are in charge of providing more good school places locally.

[Peter Grant (Glenrothes) (SNP)]

15. What assessment she has made of the potential merits of her Department becoming an accredited living wage employer.

[Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) (SNP)]

16. What assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on its staff of it becoming an accredited living wage employer.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

My Department has no directly employed staff paid below the living wage, and from the end of August 2015 all agency staff should receive at least the living wage. I have commissioned the Department’s head of property to review how the living wage can be paid to subcontracted support staff by the end of this calendar year.

[Peter Grant]

I welcome those assurances and hope that other Ministers and Secretaries of State will take note. Is the Secretary of State aware of how many direct or indirect employees of her Department have to rely on state welfare benefits to top up their wages at the end of the week?

[Nicky Morgan]

I do not have those figures to hand. I am happy to ask, although it could be regarded as quite intrusive to ask members of staff about their personal financial situation. The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, which is reflected in my right hon. Friend the Chancellor’s recent Budget: we want people who are working to receive the right wage for their work and not to be reliant on state hand-outs.