Question

To ask the Chairman of Committees how many agency staff are employed by the House of Lords; and whether those staff are paid the London Living Wage.

The House currently employs approximately 34 agency staff in each sitting week. The majority of these staff are deployed in Catering and Retail Services.

The House of Lords is accredited by Citizens UK (CUK) as a London Living Wage Employer. The terms of its accreditation licence require that contractors and sub-contractors with dedicated staff who are based on parliamentary premises are paying those staff at least the London Living Wage.

In accordance with the terms of the accreditation licence, all agency staff are paid at least the London Living Wage rate from day 1 of week 9 if they are working on parliamentary premises and employed for at least two hours of work in a week, for 8 consecutive weeks in a year.