Extract from Questions to the First Minister (Scotland): Living Wage (Amazon) - Nov 30

To ask the First Minister what discussions the Scottish Government has had with Amazon regarding the living wage. (S5F-01777)

Amazon has brought many jobs to Scotland, but we must ensure that those jobs are of good quality and provide pay rates in keeping with our ambition, which is to see the real living wage replace the national minimum wage. The Scottish Government has held several meetings with senior Amazon officials to discuss the fair work agenda, including the benefits of paying the real living wage, and that dialogue will continue. In Scotland, we now have proportionately more than five times as many accredited living wage employers as there are in the rest of the United Kingdom, which is testament to our commitment to making Scotland a living wage nation.

In March 2016, when she was Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training, Roseanna Cunningham urged Amazon to sign up to the real living wage, but it did not. In December 2016, the current Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, Keith Brown, met Amazon and called on it to adopt the living wage. Amazon said that it would consider it. One year on, it is still not paying the real living wage and we have also seen reports of unacceptable working conditions. Companies such as Amazon receive substantial sums of public money. Will the First Minister consider linking future payments of regional selective assistance to payment of the living wage?

We will continue to give consideration to that point. We have said all along that we will continue to encourage companies to pay the living wage and to sign up to the business pledge, but of course we will keep under review whether giving support should be linked to such policies.

I have heard Labour politicians—including Jackie Baillie, I think—talk before about the money that Amazon has had in grants for employment. That is indeed true; it is important, though, to point out that no financial assistance has been given to Amazon since 2015. The whole amount that Amazon has received was between 2005 and 2015. When I checked the figures, I found that almost half the total amount was awarded to Amazon in the years 2005 to 2007, when Labour was in charge of these things.

We will continue to support employment creation; we will continue to encourage inward investors into Scotland, because that is good for our economy and good for jobs, but we will also continue to press the case for fair working practices, including the living wage.

The First Minister might need to be reminded that the living wage was introduced in 2007, when her Government was in office.

I am not sure that that is a question.

Can I respond?

It was more of a statement than a question, but I will allow the First Minister a chance to respond if she wishes to.

That is why, as I said in my original answer, we proportionately have more than five times as many accredited living wage employers as there are in any other part of the UK—in fact, we have a higher percentage of people in employment who are paid the real living wage than any other UK nation. There is work still to do, but the Scottish Government and indeed those who pursue these policies on our behalf deserve a lot of credit for the progress that has been made.