SOUTH Scotland MSP Claudia Beamish has welcomed the increase of the living wage for Scottish Borders Council staff while calling for the measure to be extended to more workers.

The living wage is designed to enable people to provide for themselves and their families and the rate is re-calculated each year by the Centre for Research in Social Policy.

From April, the living wage rate is set at £7.65 per hour and Scottish Borders Council has adopted the new rate for its lowest paid staff. The new living wage rate is more than 20 per cent higher than the national minimum wage.

Ms Beamish has supported a motion in Parliament backing the living wage and calling on the Scottish Government to deliver it for all workers on public contracts in Scotland.

Commenting on the living wage increase, she said: “Across Scotland, hundreds of thousands of people are affected by in-work poverty, struggling to make ends meet in low paid jobs.

“The living wage provides a benchmark for employers to tackle this problem and help lift people and their families out of poverty.

“The living wage is becoming more established in the public sector and I welcome Scottish Borders Council’s latest show of support for their lowest paid workers.

“The next challenge is to encourage employers in other sectors to get on board and I would like to see it extended to workers on public contracts. This would be a practical step that would benefit workers across Scotland.”