AQW 49752/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 26/06/2026
Answered On Date: 05/08/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy whether she has considered using procurement or other policy levers, to encourage employers to offer more flexible, secure, and higher quality jobs.

Answer:

My Department’s Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill, its development of a Good Jobs Charter, our partnership and funding for the Real Living Wage franchise and continued targeted investment from InvestNI are all important policy levers that already recognise, support and encourage employers to offer more flexible, secure, and higher quality jobs.

The Good Jobs Employment Right Bill will help deliver greater flexibility for workers and employers, with improvements to flexible working, family-related rights and employee voice being key factors in creating higher quality jobs and increasing productivity.

The Real Living Wage franchise is encouraging ever greater numbers of organisations to become accredited real living wage employers. Invest NI investment also reflects this direction of travel, with support focused on roles paying above the real living wage and with a continued emphasis on attracting jobs that pay above the private sector median wage.

Whilst ownership of NICS procurement policy rests with the Department of Finance, my Department applies the existing NICS procurement framework in its own procurements, which again acts as a lever for improving employment practice and delivering wider social value outcomes, including the requirement for contractor staff to be paid the Real Living Wage for relevant contracts.