Mayor of London calls on employers to help tackle child poverty

The Mayor of London has called on employers in the capital to play their part in tackling child poverty.

Ken Livingstone backed calls in a new report by the London Child Poverty Commission, set up by the Greater London Authority in February 2006, for more well-paid, flexible job opportunities, a fair employer’s certification scheme and a higher minimum wage for London.

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Livingstone said the plans would be out for consultation soon and would include measures to take the burden of giving people basic skills away from employers. This contradicts the government’s policy of asking employers to sign a pledge to train all employees to Level 2.

“The private sector can make sure that once people have got into jobs, they can access best practice and training. What employers can’t do is provide Level 1 skills – the basic ability to read and write and speak English – because they don’t feel it’s their job to pour money into what primary schools should have been doing and have failed to do,” he told Personnel Today.