2. What steps he is taking to incentivise employers in Scotland to pay the living wage. (904529)

The Government support businesses that choose to pay the living wage, where it is affordable and does not cost jobs.

The Minister will be aware that many people in Scotland have started the holiday season and packed their bags, and many will be visiting the beautiful islands of Scotland, but last week the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers reported that foreign-resident seafarers who are working on the ferries are being paid as little as £2.35 an hour. That is a disgrace to Scotland, and I urge the Minister to use his offices to work with the Scottish Government to persuade the ferry companies to pay not only the minimum wage but a living wage to every single one of their workers.

I most certainly take on board what the hon. Lady says and I will make representations in that regard. I am sure she welcomes the fact that earlier this month the UK Government published a list of employers who had not paid the minimum wage. Unfortunately, two of them were in Scotland.

Mr Speaker, I know that you will be happy to hear that in May I employed an apprentice in business administration in my office and committed to paying her the living wage. Does the Minister agree with me that all MPs’ offices and Government Departments should set an example and move as quickly as possible to being accredited living wage employers?

The hon. Gentleman sets a good example, and certainly in apprenticeship schemes offered by Members of Parliament, I support the action he has taken.

14. Seven out of 10 young people in Scotland who are unemployed are applying for benefit for the second time. Is that not testament to the fact that there are simply not enough secure jobs for them that pay the living wage? Why will this Government and their equally bad counterparts in Edinburgh not use the public procurement powers available to them to ensure that every Scottish young person gets the living wage? (904541)

I would have thought that the hon. Gentleman would welcome the fact that the number of those in the 16 to 19-year-old category in Scotland who are out of work has fallen by 4,000. Work is the way out of poverty, and that is what this Government are encouraging.

Does my hon. Friend not agree that the best way to achieve the living wage in Scotland and elsewhere in the country is by continuing to take millions of low earners out of paying income tax altogether?

I absolutely agree. Tens of thousands of Scots have benefited from the fact that we have raised the personal allowance. Roughly two thirds of those on the minimum wage are now paying significantly less tax than they were when this Government came to power.

I know the Minister recognises that payment of the living wage will ease the pressures of the cost of living that many households experience, but in view of his recent admission to the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee that his Government’s benefits sanctions and welfare reforms have contributed to the increase in the number of food bank users, will he now apologise?

What I think politicians should apologise for is making the poor and most vulnerable into political footballs. Poverty is a scourge in our country, not an opportunity for a press release.

Order. In case the House is not aware, I can inform colleagues that the House of Commons has received its accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation.