These workers have shown nothing but loyalty to the council and the withdrawal of the Foundation Living Wage will hit people hard in the pocket.

Derbyshire County Council has made it clear that from the 1st April they will no longer pay the Foundation Living Wage to those employees earning less than £8.75 per hour. The Council has also said that schools who currently pay the Foundation Living Wage will no longer be able to do so as the mechanism used for payment will be removed by the Council.

This is in direct contravention of the devolved decision making powers that schools have under the provisions of the Local Management of Schools.

Derbyshire County Council believe that the two thirds of schools that currently pay the Foundation Living Wage will no longer want to pay it to their staff when the Council stops paying it.

However, schools have not been canvassed to determine if this is the case and academy schools in the county who do not use Derbyshire County Council as their payroll provider will still be able to pay the Foundation Living Wage.

Jon Smith, Regional Organiser with the GMB, said:

"This is a direct attack on the lowest paid workers in Derbyshire County Council. It is also a unilateral decision taken on behalf of schools in the county that they will also cease to pay the Foundation Living Wage from the 1st April without establishing that schools do actually want to cease to pay it."

"At its best denying schools the opportunity to pay the Foundation Living Wage is an act of monumental arrogance, at its worst it is the Authority protecting themselves against potential equal pay claims should schools continue to pay the Foundation Living Wage."

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For further comment contact Jon Smith on 07918-905615 / 0345 337 7777