Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) his Department's staff and (b) staff working for companies contracted by his Department who are paid less than the Living Wage are (i) women and (ii) men.

Core MoJ pay proposals for the 2014 pay award were in line with the 1% cap set by HM Treasury for public sector pay awards and included an increase of 3.5% and 2.34% respectively to starting rates of pay for the lowest paid staff in Bands E and F (Civil Service equivalent AO and AA respectively).

This increase to starting pay ensured that all salary levels within the core department were at or above Living Wage levels from 1 August 2014. This includes staff within the Ministry of Justice HQ, HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) and Legal Aid Agency (LAA).

Living Wage rates were increased on 3rd November 2014 after implementation of the MoJ 2014 pay award. The new UK Living Wage rate has been set at £7.85 per hour and the London Living Wage rate has been set at £9.15. The department will assess this position again in 2015 as part of any pay round decisions.

Information on contractors paid less than the rate defined by the ‘Living Wage Foundation’ as a living wage is not recorded centrally. We would need to approach all of our contractors and or their agencies to get them to provide the information. This could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.