Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

Mark Lancaster

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) pays over and above the New National Living Wage across all of our business areas (£7.20 per hour).

In 2015 the Secretary of State for Defence agreed that London-based staff should be paid the London Living Wage rate (£9.40 per hour). This is in line with the rate defined by the Living Wage Foundation. This rate includes basic pay and any applicable allowances. It is regularly reviewed and where an individual’s rate falls under this they are paid specific enhancements.

The MOD has not formally signed up to the National Living Wage rate as defined by the Living Wage Foundation (£8.25 per hour). The table below details those directly employed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and its agencies who are paid less than this rate.

Contracted workers’ rates of pay, where paid by their parent company or recruitment agency, are not visible to the MOD.

The MOD does not employ individuals on zero-hours contracts.