National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2019

Baroness Donaghy Excerpts

Monday 4th March 2019 Grand Committee

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Lord Henley) (Con)]

My Lords, the regulations were laid before the House on 28 January 2019. Their purpose is to increase the national living wage and all the national minimum wage rates from 1 April 2019. The regulations also include an increase in the accommodation offset rate, which is the only benefit in kind that counts towards minimum wage pay.

The national living wage has had a positive impact on the earnings of the lowest-paid. Between April 2015 and April 2018, those at the fifth percentile of the earnings distribution saw their wages grow by almost 8% above inflation. That is faster than at any other point in the earnings distribution.

The labour market has continued to perform well. The employment rate is at a record high of 75.8% and the unemployment rate is at 4%, the lowest since the 1970s. Increasing the minimum wage is one more way in which the Government’s industrial strategy is boosting people’s earnings power and seeking to raise productivity throughout the UK.

From April, the national living wage for those aged 25 and over will increase by 38p to £8.21, which is a 4.9% increase. The 38p increase in April will mean that a full-time worker on the national living wage will see their pay increase by more than £690 over the year. The national living wage is on course to reach the Government’s target of 60% of median earnings in 2020. The annual earnings of a full-time minimum wage worker will have increased by more than £2,750 since the introduction of the national living wage in April 2016.

The 21 to 24 year-old rate will increase by 32p, meaning that those in that age group will be entitled to a minimum of £7.70, an annual increase of 4.3%. Those aged between 18 and 20 will be entitled to a minimum of £6.15, an annual increase of 4.2%. Those aged 16 and 17 will be entitled to a minimum of £4.35, an annual increase of 3.6%. Finally, apprentices aged under 19, or those aged 19 and over in the first year of their apprenticeship, will be entitled to £3.90. This is a 5.4% increase and is the largest increase of all the rates that we are debating today. All these above-inflation increases represent real pay rises for the lowest-paid workers in the UK.

The Government’s green-rated impact assessment estimates that more than 2.1 million people will benefit directly from the regulations. All the rates in the regulations have been recommended by the independent and expert Low Pay Commission. The LPC brings together employer and worker representatives to reach a consensus when making its recommendations. The Government asked the Low Pay Commission to recommend the rate of the national living wage such that it reaches 60% of median earnings in 2020, subject to sustained economic growth.

For the national minimum wage, the LPC has recommended rates that increase the earnings of the lowest-paid young workers without damaging their employment prospects by setting it too high. I thank the LPC for the extensive research and consultation that has informed these rates recommendations, all of which is set out in its 2018 report published in November. At Budget 2019, the Chancellor will announce the LPC’s remit in the years after 2020. The Government have an aspiration to end low pay. This year, we will engage with the LPC, workers and businesses to balance this ambition with the need to protect employment for lower-paid workers.

The Government recognise that as the minimum wage rises, there is a higher risk of non-compliance as a larger share of the workforce is covered by the minimum wage. The Government are committed to cracking down on employers who fail to pay the national minimum wage, and we are clear that anyone entitled to be paid the minimum wage should receive it. Consequently, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has almost doubled the budget for enforcing the national minimum wage and national living wage. Funding reached £26.3 million this year, up from £13.2 million in 2015-16.

HMRC follows up on every complaint it receives, even those which are anonymous; these include those made to the ACAS helpline, via the online complaint form or from other sources. Increasing the budget allows HMRC to focus on tackling the most serious cases of wilful non-compliance. It also increases the number of compliance officers available to investigate national minimum wage complaints and conduct risk-based enforcement in sectors where non-compliance is most likely. In 2017-18, HMRC recovered pay arrears in excess of £15.6 million for over 200,000 workers.

Sustainable increases in minimum wage rates depend on strong economic fundamentals—and those of the UK are strong. The economy has now grown for 24 quarters in a row—the longest streak in the G7. Evidence has also long told us that investment in human capital is crucial for the long-term productivity of the workforce. The industrial strategy sets out our long-term vision for increasing productivity, including through raising the minimum wage, and so boosting the earnings power of the lowest-paid workers. Through these regulations, the Government are building an economy that works for everyone. I commend them to the Committee and I beg to move.

[Baroness Donaghy (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome this statutory instrument and the increases outlined by the Minister. As he knows, next month will be the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the national minimum wage, and I had the honour of being one of the founding members of the Low Pay Commission at the time. The recommendations we made impacted on and benefited 1 million women—and, incidentally, the world did not come to an end, which some forecasts had said would happen.

I am pleased that successive Governments have upheld the principles laid down by the original committee, and I hope that that will continue. Obviously, this was before the national living wage was introduced. However, one omission from our very first report in 1998, before the implementation, was the issue of accommodation offset. We were asked as a committee to look at that again, because we had not seen the significance of it.

I well remember being taken with the committee down to a convent in the middle of the Devon countryside to be gently lobbied by the Mother Superior and a number of nuns about the importance of having an accommodation offset. The Minister will know that it might have been gentle lobbying, but, my goodness, we were in absolutely no doubt whatever about the strength of feeling involved. The experience we had on the committee is a memory I will take with me for a long time. We were conscious that we were creating history, and I am very glad indeed that this is still here for us to admire.

[Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD)]

My Lords, I will fulfil the promise I made to the Minister on the previous statutory instrument and be brief. It is also a great relief from Brexit to be discussing something that is current and not contingent on anything else happening.

The statutory instrument talks about the national minimum wage amendment regulations, but the table refers to the national living wage. It does not take much to confuse me. I just want to explore that difference for a minute or two. The uplift of 4.9% for over-25s to £8.21 is very welcome and I accept and welcome the comments from the Minister on the progress that the Government are making to get to 60% of median earnings by 2020.

The concept of the national living wage was introduced by the Government in 2015. I appreciate the Minister’s comments on how the amount has increased but my understanding is that it is not a national living wage because it is not based on actual living costs. The Living Wage Foundation currently calculates it—although presumably it is due for an uplift as well—at £9 per hour and £10.55 in London. It says that the living wage is what people need to earn to live. Citizens UK says that there is a moral imperative on employers to pay that if they can and 4,700 businesses and 104 local authorities do.

We know that 20% of all low-paid workers are in the public sector. Can the Minister say what percentage of public sector workers are in receipt of the living wage? It was very good to hear the Minister’s comments on enforcement. Can he tell me how many companies have been found to be paying below the minimum wage and how many of these have actually been prosecuted?

In conclusion, I hope that we will be moving towards the living wage very soon. It is proven to be good for business because it improves staff morale and retention. It is good for society and for the Government’s coffers too, because 35% of those earnings will go to the Treasury.