THE leader of South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) wants the authority to 'set an example' by offering all its employees the 'living wage'.

Councillor Giles Archibald was questioned by Cllr Dyan Jones at a full meeting of SLDC's cabinet on the issue.

"The UK living wage aims to relieve 'in work' poverty created by stagnant wages and rising inflation with a higher hourly rate than the current legal minimum wage," Cllr Jones said. "Would Cllr Archibald tell us what ambitions there are to introduce this to this authority thus providing a model for other employers in the district to follow?"

The government set minimum wage for those aged 25 and under is £7.05 and for those aged 25 and over is £7.50.

However, the 'real living wage' was calculated by the Living Wage Foundation and has been based on the amount people need in order to live.

The foundation puts the real living wage at £8.75 per hour across the UK and £10.20 for those living in London.

Cllr Archibald said: "It is something that has been a concern for me and several in the chamber for some time.

"We are very concerned about the impact of poverty the huge increases in poverty.

"We want to set an example as a good employer and at the same time properly manage the resources provided to us by the council tax payer."

He said that he would like SLDC to achieve a minimum wage rate which is equivalent to £8.75 by 2019/20 and that officers were working on including this in the budget.

A spokesperson for South Lakeland District Council said: “We currently have 34 staff who are paid below the Living Wage Foundation’s voluntary threshold of £8.75 an hour, that is 7.5 per cent of the workforce.

"We estimate the cost of achieving that threshold would be an extra £54,000 a year. Officers are assessing the wider implications and more details will be presented to the HR Committee in the New Year."