CAMPAIGN FOR A LIVING WAGE

That this House welcomes the campaign for a living wage of £7.15 per hour to tackle low pay in Scotland supported by the Poverty Alliance, the Scottish TUC, Unison, the Child Poverty Action Group and Faith in Communities Scotland; recognises the important advances made in tackling poverty through the introduction of the national minimum wage and tax credits; notes the role that a living wage can play in further reducing in work poverty and that increasing numbers of employers are opting to pay a living wage; and calls on the new Government to support measures to combat poverty such as a living wage rather than making cuts to the tax credits and benefits systems which would reverse the gains made.