THE city council has revealed its ambition for Oxford to become England’s first living wage city.

Council leader Susan Brown said the authority needed a 'critical mass' of employers to pay the voluntary higher rate for this to happen.

A joint event was held on Thursday with the Living Wage Foundation to encourage businesses to sign up for living wage accreditation.

READ: These are the 66 Oxford employers committed to paying at least £9 an hour

It comes after the foundation last week announced the rate needed nationally to meet the cost of living would be rising by 25p an hour to £9.

This is still below the city council's own Oxford Living Wage, which went up from £9.69 to £10.02 to reflect the rise in the London Living Wage, also set by the foundation, which is now £10.55.

Nearly 40 employers signed up to attend the event, which took place at Said Business School. The Living Wage Foundation talked to businesses about the Living Wage and outlined its potential benefits for Oxford and its workers.

Local employers – including Oxfam and the Oxford University – then went on to talk about their experiences of gaining Living Wage accreditation and its impact on their operations.

There are currently 66 organisations in the city committed to at least the living wage of £9.

The council hopes to encourage enough employers to pay the living wage to enable Oxford to gain Living Wage Foundation accreditation as England’s first living wage city.

Councillor Martyn Rush, living wage champion for the council, said it allowed people to 'live with dignity.'

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Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council and Board Member for Economic Development and Partnership, said: “Working in partnership with the Living Wage Foundation, our ambition is for Oxford to become England’s first living wage city. For this to happen, we need a critical mass of local employers to pay the Living Wage and get accredited.

“Oxford City Council is an accredited Living Wage employer because the Living Wage enables our staff and their families to live free from poverty. It also benefits businesses and the wider local economy."

A September 2018 report by the Smith Institute calculated that ten UK cities could see an annual economic boost of £1.1 billion if a quarter of low paid workers had their pay increased to the living wage.

She said the council believes that Oxford becoming a living wage city would deliver a corresponding increase in local spending power.

Sebastian Bachelier, programme officer for the Living Wage Foundation, said the event was a 'great opportunity' to promote the 'business and societal benefits' of the real living wage across Oxford.”

Keith Mellen, director of hair salon chain Anne Veck Limited, said: “We pay the living wage because it is the right thing to do and because it helps us recruit and retain great people. It tells our employees that we value them and it helps them meet Oxford’s high living costs, especially for housing.

“Low pay is a false economy because it is subsidised by benefits and tax credits. The Living Wage is good for employers, employees and Oxford – it helps stop people moving to cheaper parts of the country and helps us attract the staff we need.”

Bryan Michell, Charity Co-ordinator at My Life My Choice and member of the Charity Leaders Forum, said: “The Charity Leaders Forum is a forum for 14 small to medium sized charities supporting people in Oxfordshire. Between us, we provide direct support to more than 15,000 people a year and help thousands more through support to other organisations.

“Collectively we spend more than £7 million a year improving the lives of some of the most socially excluded people living in our county, and we all pay our staff the living wage. We think it is the very least we need to do. We aim to show leadership for the rest of the charity sector, and I would urge all Oxford charities and other employers to pay their staff the living wage.”

The living wage, which is revised every October, is higher than the Government’s current compulsory minimum pay rate of £7.83 for over 25s. This will also go up to £8.21 next year.

Employers who sign up to the living wage commit to pay it to all staff over the age of 18 who work regularly on their premises.

This includes employed, contracted and subcontracted staff.

For more information visit oxford.gov.uk/livingwage