Jim Knight, Lord Knight of
Weymouth (Dorset South - Labour Gain in 2015), writes:
As a minister at the old Department for Children,
Schools and Families, I was very proud when Ed Balls agreed it would be the
first government department to pay the London Living Wage. The high cost of
housing and the concentration of poverty in the capital makes the case
overwhelming; but the case for a rural living wage is equally strong.
If you are poor in rural areas it is a real
struggle. The quality of life attracts asset rich retirees and second home
owners, making housing often unaffordable. Local shops are a long way from
distribution centres, competition is limited, and so prices are higher than the
average. Wages are also low as local jobs can be limited to cleaning, care,
hospitality and micro businesses; or if you’re lucky, the public sector. But
the local council will be underfunded relative to urban councils, and can't
afford the support services you need if living in poverty.
The best way out of poverty is work – but only if
work pays. Topping up low pay through the tax system is one way forward, as the
tax credit system has shown. Better still is for employers to pay decent wages.
That is why I hope Labour colleagues in the Counties will campaign for a rural
living wage in this year’s Council elections.
It is also why I will be pressing Ministers this
evening to withdraw their amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
(ERR) Bill that would abolish the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) for England.
Set up in 1917, the AWB has put a floor under
wages for almost a century. It means farmers’ representatives negotiate terms
and conditions every year with unions, and workers then get reasonable pay,
protection and career progression. Without it, workers will have to deal direct
with their employers, the reality of which would be pay cuts for the workers
(of around £32.5m per year) and the burden of staff negotiations on farmers.
Indeed, the latter is one of the reasons why the Farmers Union for Wales agrees
with the Welsh Assembly Government in retaining the AWB.
Previously, as an MP, I represented the Frampton
Estate where the Tolpuddle Martyrs had worked before their arrest in 1834. The
outcry at their treatment and transportation was a crucial moment in the
history of the trade union movement. It was born out of James Frampton’s
power to bully, and his influence over the local judiciary in passing such an
extreme sentence.
But today, as Unite the Union say, “there is no
more ‘tightly-knit’ community than a small rural community, where a farm
worker’s employer, employer’s spouse or other members of their family may be in
positions of social control such as a justice of the peace, a parish
councillor, a school governor, all of these and more.” This makes negotiation
by workers in these communities very difficult indeed.
Or as my colleague Margaret Prosser said when
this issue was last debated in the Lords, “The most particular aspect is that
in many circumstances the relationship between the worker and the employer is
very personal. The relationship often involves just one or two employees and
one employer. It is a very close relationship where day-to-day friendship and
trust has to be established. How, in those circumstances, can the employee
raise for himself or herself the sorts of questions that need to be answered if
that employee is to feel secure in his or her employment and endeavour to
improve his or her circumstances?”
There are many other reasons for retaining the
protection that the AWB gives 154,000 workers in England – a much better deal
for young people, better training, the particular conditions in what is a
dangerous profession. In return, the impact assessment says the positive
employment effects will be ‘not significantly different from zero’.
It is also shocking that the consultation period
for this proposal has been only for four weeks, with Ministers trying to rush
the plans through. For me however, the AWB is the starting point for a living
wage for everyone in rural England – and this move by a LibDem farming minister
will undo the good work by Lloyd George almost a century ago.
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