National Minimum Wage

Lord Morris of Handsworth Excerpts

Tuesday 1st April 2014 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

My noble friend makes a very good point: raising the tax threshold has been extremely important in helping the low paid. The Government are taking other measures, including on fuel duty, which remains frozen. The House should realise that wages in the private sector are now outstripping inflation and the OBR has predicted that that will continue until 2018. Indeed, current wage growth in the manufacturing sector is as high as 3.2%, so we are going in the right direction.

[Lord Morris of Handsworth (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister follow the good practice of the Mayor of London and support not just the minimum wage but the living wage?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

The noble Lord makes a very good point about the living wage. It is good to note that 80% of all employers pay above the living wage, but I am the first to say that there is much more to do. The Government support employers who choose to pay the living wage. However, decisions on what wages to set are for employers and workers to agree, as long as employers pay at least the national minimum wage.