William Powell AM

Chair of the Petitions Committee

National Assembly for Wales

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff

CF99 1NA

                                                                                                            14^th January 2016

Dear William,

Re:  Petition P-04-397 Living Wage

Thank you for forwarding the update the Committee recently received from the Minister for Public Services (15^th December 2015) following a meeting of the Workforce Partnership Council on the 10^th December 2015.

We were pleased to read the Welsh Government has become an accredited Living Wage employer and that significant progress has been made, particularly in the public sector. However, we remain concerned that limited progress has been made in the private and not-for-profit sector in Wales. As stated in our last correspondence

“recent data released by the Office of National Statistics that showed 288,000 jobs in Wales (25%) pay below the living wage. 47% of jobs paid below the living wage across the UK are in the private and not-for profit sector. 43% of jobs paid below the living wage across the UK are part-time. We are concerned this combination of factors is particularly challenging for families who need to balance work with caring for their children.”

We believe the Petitions Committee has a role in continuing to hold the Welsh Government to account on progress made on the Living Wage, however appreciate this will inevitably require a long term, strategic approach to become a reality. We would like to take this opportunity to take advice from the Committee regarding the future management of our petition, your scrutiny of the Welsh Government’s progress and any potential recommendations you may wish to make.

We look forward to your consideration of these issues.

Yours sincerely,

Rhea Stevens, Senior Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager