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WQ.51/2023
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER CENTRAL QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 13th FEBRUARY 2023 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 20th FEBRUARY 2023
Question
Will the Minister outline what attention, if any, has been given to the work of the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough on Minimum Income Standards (MIS) during her department's research into the minimum and living wage; and will she further advise why no MIS exist for Jersey, through which we could evaluate poverty levels in the Island, when Guernsey, Isle of Man, United Kingdom, Inner and Outer London all have this data?
Answer
A report prepared for the Jersey Government in May 2015 set out a detailed assessment of options for calculating a living wage, including the adoption of Minimum Income Standards. The report references in detail the work of the CRSP and the Joseph Rowntree Trust.
Last year the States Assembly agreed amended wording to P.78/2022 requesting action from the Minister for Social Security as follows:
“…all investigations including consultation and engagement with the Employment Forum in relation to the feasibility of devising a scheme to be brought to the States to convert the Minimum Wage over time to a Living Wage, including any legislative changes that may be necessary, be completed and presented to the States Assembly by end of December 2023”
This work is included in the workplan of the Minister for 2023 and will commence shortly. The work will include a review of the previous report on living wage issues as well as gathering current information from neighbouring jurisdictions. The work will include an evaluation of the potential benefits of setting up and maintaining an MIS for Jersey for the purposes of setting a living wage.
The Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University produces an annual report on its calculation on a Minimum Income Standard for the UK in conjunction with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The MIS does not set or evaluate poverty levels.
Information on relative low income levels in Jersey is provided through the latest Household Income Survey published in August 2022.