Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has made a recent assessment of wage growth across the regions.

In the year to 2016, earnings for an average full-time employee grew in every UK region and nation. Earnings grew fastest in the West Midlands (+3.7%), followed by the North West (+3.0%) and Wales (+2.9%).

In April this year we increased the National Living Wage by 4.2% to £7.50. The increase is expected to directly benefit around 1.7 million workers across the UK.