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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY THE CONNÉTABLE OF ST. MARY
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 29th APRIL 2014
Question
Further to the Council of Ministers' comments published in relation to the proposition of Deputy Southern P.37/2013 Living Wage for Jersey: investigation', will the Chief Minister advise the Assembly on the outcome of the "refreshing the existing Social Policy Strategic Framework" referred to in those comments and advise when he expects the Assembly to be in a position to consider knowledgably the implementation of a living wage?
Answer
The implementation of the Living Wage was dealt with in response to a question on 18th February, 2014:
"The 2014 business plans for both the Chief Minister's Department and the Social Security Department include commitments to work on researching a living wage for Jersey.
As explained in response to P.37/2013 and during the debate itself, scoping a meaningful living wage will require significant input from officers in both Departments. It therefore could not be achieved by the end of January 2014 as proposed in P.37/2013. During the debate it was confirmed that a report by the end of 2014 would be acceptable.
There are a number of different elements to the Living Wage calculation, one of which is income distribution. Work on the 2014/2015 Household Income Distribution Survey will start in Spring 2014 and will be completed by the end of 2015. Alongside that, work will be undertaken to establish other elements of the Living Wage calculation, such as basic cost of living."
An interim report will be brought forward at the end of 2014 pending completion of the Household Distribution Survey."
Since February, the Household Income Distribution Survey has been launched by the Statistics Unit and the 2014 Jersey Annual Social Survey will also include questions about household spending.
Both these initiatives will produce detailed information on income and spending in local households. This will provide vital information for the States before any decision is taken on the introduction of a living wage.
Work on the Social Policy Framework forms part of the "Preparing for Our Future" exercise, which was launched in January 2014. This is a comprehensive framework for the development of long term policy, incorporating the needs of our community, environment and economy, and will include refreshing the principles of the social policy framework.