A backbench MHK and a government minister have clashed over the length of time it is taking the government to make sure all its staff are paid the living wage.

The government has made several pledges that aim to ensure all its staff earn the living wage, which was increased to £9.76 an hour earlier this year.

The living wage is an entirely voluntary recommendation for employers. The minimum wage, which is legally binding, is £8.25.

In Tynwald last week Lawrie Hooper (LibVannin, Ramsey) asked when the pledge to ensure all public sector workers would earn the living wage would be met. Policy and Reform Minister Chris Thomas said that remained the ’aspiration’ but pointed out the rate had gone up by 13.3% earlier this year and how to deal with that had to be resolved as part of discussions about pay awards and structures.

He said: ’The Public Services Commission is currently in the process of completing a project in order to introduce a new pay and grading system for manual and craft staff to be implemented early next year, backdated to April 1, 2019.

’Once this project is finalised we should be in a better position to assess the extent to which some groups’ grades, if any, will still fall below the living wage.’

Mr Hooper said that every time he had asked about the position over the past two years, Mr Thomas had given a different answer.

’Originally he stated that substantive employment groups would be paid the living wage by the end of June 2018,’ Mr Hooper said.

’He is now saying that it still has not happened because of potential cost implications and that it might happen in the future but it will only be backdated now to April this year.’

He added: ’I thought the government had made a firm commitment on this issue already and that is not the impression that I am getting.’

But Mr Thomas countered: ’The commitment for June 2018 was met as part of the job evaluation and grading support process and the collective bargaining with unions.

’In November 2018 there was backpay to April 1, 2018 for all of the people who had received lower than the living wage.’

The minister added: ’We did not show off about it, we did not brag about it, we just quietly went around making things better off for the lower paid inside the public service and that is what we are doing now.’