Edinburgh Napier University

Jamie Hepburn MSP today visited Sighthill for an insight into current university issues as the city of Edinburgh celebrated being awarded Living Wage City status.

The Minister for Higher Education, who in an earlier ministerial role had encouraged organisations to sign up for the Living Wage initiative, toured the clinical skills area and heard how University students had rallied behind the national drive to combat Covid-19.

He was also briefed on changes which had taken place on campus to allow social distancing during the most challenging months of the pandemic, and met senior representatives from Learning & Teaching, Marketing & External Relations, Student Wellbeing and Student Futures to discuss developments in their areas.

With November 15-19 being designated Living Wage Week, a key element of his visit was a briefing from Carolann Begbie, the University’s Director of People and Services, on the University’s accreditation as a Living Wage employer.

We had been paying the Living Wage to our staff, including our casual workforce, for a number of years and the accreditation earlier this year confirmed our commitment to continue this.

Employers choose to pay the real Living Wage on a voluntary basis, recognising the value of their workers, and Edinburgh was this week awarded Living Wage City status.

The accreditation was awarded by Living Wage Scotland in recognition of the Scottish capital’s ambition to deliver on its new Edinburgh Living Wage City action plan and double the number of Living Wage accredited businesses to over 900 across the city over the next few years.

Around 450 Edinburgh businesses are already committed to voluntarily paying their staff the Living Wage, paying a minimum hourly wage of £9.90 per hour - this new Living Wage rate was announced on Monday as part of Living Wage Week 2021.

Jamie Hepburn said: “Having leaders like Edinburgh Napier University taking that step to become accredited is really important because they set the example to others in their sector, and indeed to other employers more generally. I’m delighted that the University has taken that step.”

Carolann Begbie, Director of People and Services at Edinburgh Napier, said: “It was a pleasure for the University to play host to Mr Hepburn today. I hope he found his visit interesting and informative, and that he got a real flavour of the work we do here while also celebrating Edinburgh’s Living Wage City status.

“The University is proud to have been recognised as a socially responsible and accredited Living Wage employer, actively taking steps to ensure our team’s income keeps pace with the cost of living.”