West Dunbartonshire Council votes to delay introducing real living wage over money concerns

Plans to update the living wage in West Dunbartonshire have been delayed until next year, to ensure the council can afford it.

The Real Living Wage, currently set at £12.60 across the UK, is independently calculated based on the actual cost of living, including essentials such as food, housing, and energy and is set by the Living Wage Foundation.

West Dunbartonshire Council pays the Scottish Local Government Living Wage, which was recently revised to £13.06 because of the agreed pay award for 25/26 and will increase again to £13.52 from April 2026.

The local authority says it is facing increased pressure from the Glasgow City Region to attain Real Living Wage accreditation, and officers have been exploring the implications and costs of implementing this.

A report presented to members of the corporate services committee outlined two options for members to consider.

The first was to achieve accreditation and implement the projected real Living Wage rate from April 2026 at £13.10.

The second option would be to implement the real living wage of £13.86 an hour from next April, but this would have a predicted cost pressure of around £196,000 and would be significantly above the agreed pay award for the Scottish Local Government Living Wage rate.

During the meeting councillor David McBride moved a motion to delay making a decision until the council’s budget setting meeting next year and invite councillors to consider the real living wage as part of the budget proposals.

Speaking on his motion councillor McBride said: “This ensures we have all the information in front of us before we make a decision.

“There is no delay if we agree to go for this, but I think it would be right and proper that political groups and others can bring this forward as part of the negotiations and considerations in their budget proposal.

“We have already been told it could be as high as £200,000. While it is laudable in its intention, it could have consequences that we would need to take into account, so I am not comfortable with making that decision today.

“I think it would be wise for the committee to wait until the council sets its budget.”

But councillor Ian Dickson moved an amendment to move forward with the real living wage accreditation.

He said: “It is the right thing to do. We will know what the numbers are in time for the budget meeting so we can start then anyway even if we agree this today.”

Following a roll call vote, the majority of committee members agreed to continue the decision.