Issue - meetings

To consider the joint report of the Director of City Development and the Director of Resources and Housing assessing how the current and planned work of the Council supports and compliments that of the Great Jobs Agenda and recommends that the Board endorses the campaign and continues to align activity where appropriate.

The Director of City Development and the Director of Resources and Housing submitted a joint report assessing how the current and planned work of the Council supported and complimented that of the ‘Great Jobs Agenda’ and which recommended that the Board endorsed the campaign and continued to align activity where appropriate.

A Member raised comments regarding the rates of pay for those undertaking services commissioned by the Council and in respect of the pay rates of those companies using Council owned premises. In response, it was highlighted that although the Council was not a regulatory body for pay levels, it was undertaking a range of actions to lead by example, such as the Council’s payment of the Living Wage Foundation’s minimum pay rate, the work being undertaken by the Council as part of its role in the Local Economic Partnership and Business Improvement District, together with engagement being undertaken with trade unions.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the aims of the ‘Great Jobs Agenda’ be endorsed, together with endorsement being given to continue to seek to meet the related standards, as detailed within the submitted report, in order to provide better jobs that offer a living wage and good working conditions;

(b)  That the aligned strategies and place based programmes currently being progressed under the Leeds Inclusive Growth Strategy, be noted, together with the Leeds Talent and Skills Plan, with the aim of engaging with a wider range of employers to provide great jobs;

(c)  That it be noted that the officer responsible for all employment issues within the Council, including engagement with the trade unions is the Chief Officer Human Resources; and that the officers responsible for the aligned intervention to support wide employer engagement on the those issues detailed within the submitted report are the Chief Officer Economic Development and the Chief Officer Employment and Skills.