We the under-signed call on the London Borough of Lewisham Council to introduce a Living Wage Incentive Scheme, using powers granted to the council in the Localism Act (2011), whereby local businesses can receive a business rate discount if they pay all their employees at least the London Living Wage, currently set at £9.15 per hour, this follows similar schemes introduced in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Brent. 

Paying the Living wage is good for employers, good for the employees and a benefit to our society as a whole. It is good that Lewisham Council has been a Living Wage Foundation accredited employee since 2012 but the Council needs to go further by introducing a scheme, such as the ones in Greenwich and Brent, which encourages local employers to pay the living wage not just the council itself.