If there are local elections happening where you live, help us get tackling inequality on the table by contacting your candidates and asking them to pledge to our Fairness Five.
1. Enact the Socio-economic Duty
By enacting the socio-economic duty councils would have to examine the impact of their decision making on socio-economic inequality. The duty has been enacted nationally in Scotland and Wales as well as voluntarily by many councils across England, will yours be next?
2. Pay all directly contracted staff the real Living Wage
Thousands of employers across the UK pay their staff the real Living Wage and are therefore ensuring that their employees receive a fair wage to help them face the cost of living crisis. Ask your council to take the pledge and pay their staff.
3. Ensure all council contractors are required to pay staff the real Living Wage and do not have Trade Union blacklists.
Many councils hold contracts with private businesses, ask your council to ensure that these contracts contain clauses that request businesses pay their staff the Real Living Wage and do not have Trade Union blacklists.
4. Put concrete processes/projects in place to encourage, listen and respond to people at the sharp end of inequality, especially young people.
Make sure that your council centres the voices of those with lived experience in policy making so that they develop the most equitable and effective responses to issues facing your community.
5. Publish a plan to reduce the pay ratio between the CEO and the lowest-paid directly employed council worker.
Inequality increases when there are big differences between the pay of those at the top of a company or organisation when compared to those at the bottom, by reducing this pay ratio the council will be contributing to reducing pay inequality.
To help you contact your councillor candidates we have drafted a template letter. You may be able to find your local council and mayoral candidates here using this citizen-led database. Your local council website and/or your local library may also have candidate information. You can also contact us for more information on info@equalitytrust.org.uk.
By Imogen Richmond-Bishop Research and Policy Assistant, The Equality Trust