All Redbridge Council employees will get more than £19,000 for full-time work.

The Labour administration has budgeted to ensure that the lowest paid members of staff will earn the London Living wage of £10.20 per hour which is £2.70 higher than the statutory National Living Wage.

These plans, however, will not apply to Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure staff, (the councils independently run leisure division) but their terms of pay will be negotiated when their contract is next up for discussion, with a view to bringing them in line with the same conditions.

“I am very proud of the work we have completed in addressing unfairness and inequality within the council’s workforce, and especially in ensuring we lead the way when it comes to addressing the gender pay gap, which is a great announcement as we approach international women’s day,” Councillor Kam Rai told the Recorder.

“Even though government cuts have meant reducing the overall staff costs by £12m, we believe we must ensure all of the staff working for the council receive a decent level of pay, and that is why we are committed becoming a London Living Wage accredited borough - it’s the right thing to do.”

The difference between the chief executives pay and lowest wages has also been reduced and the council’s ratio stands at 1:9 -lower than the average for local government and well below the guidance of the Hutton review of 1:20.

It is also good news for women working for Redbridge Council.

The gender pay gap may have hit the headlines in recent months, but the difference goes in favour of females employees.

A Redbridge Labour spokesman said: “One area we are particularly proud of is the gender pay gap.

“We are proud to announce Redbridge has a mean gender pay gap of -3per cent which is actually in favour of women.

“Whilst managing the continued cut in funding from central government and the increase in demand for services, the council has also been working on making sure there is a better level of fairness for our staff.”