Push for £10 minimum wage

Wednesday 27 October 2021

Reform Jersey is making a push to get the minimum wage set at £10 by next autumn.

Deputy Geoff Southern, the party’s Social Security Lead, has tabled a plan to set the rate at £9.45 in January 2022, with it then rising a further £0.55 by October.

If approved, the step up to £10 should help with a transition to achieve his third proposal: that the Social Security Minister create a plan with charity Caritas to convert the minimum wage over time to a Living Wage by the end of 2022.

Currently set at £10.96 per hour, the Living Wage takes into account the cost of living, taxes and the value of benefits available to working people on low incomes. However, the figure may have risen by the time Deputy Southern's proposal, if agreed, comes into force.

Pictured: Reform Jersey's Deputy Geoff Southern is behind the £10 minimum wage and Living Wage plan.

The Social Security Minister is currently proposing to raise the minimum wage from £8.22 to £9.22 in January – behind the UK, which this week announced that its rate will rise to £9.50 an hour from next April.

Arguing that the Minister's proposal "falls short", Deputy Southern commented in a report accompanying his proposals: "The combination of covid and Brexit has led to the potential for substantial wage inflation in the low-paid sectors.

"This, in turn, creates scope to bring the minimum wage into line with our neighbours."

If accepted following a vote in the States Assembly, it's estimated that the change would lead the Government to generate £600,000 more each year.

The minimum wage is currently scheduled for debate on 23 November.