Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 5 July 2017.
Dawn Bowden
Labour
2:10,
5 July 2017
Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. You’ll probably be aware that Cardiff University Business School recently carried out a survey of those employers across the UK who’ve chosen to become accredited living wage employers, i.e. paying the foundation living wage, which is of course £8.45—almost £1 more than the UK’s national minimal wage—and ensuring that the contractors that they use also pay the foundation living wage rates. The overwhelming Majority of those surveyed identified that not only did the benefits far outweigh any costs, but less than one in five had needed to change contractors, as they too have been content to pay the foundation living wage.
Cabinet Secretary, given that local authorities are, in many areas of Wales, amongst the largest employers, will you join me in encouraging all councils in Wales to provide a lead within their local communities by not just paying the foundation living wage to directly employed staff, but to go the additional step and look to meet the accreditation standards by ensuring that their contractors pay it also?
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
