Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the median gross weekly pay for adults in full-time work in each region of the UK.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office for National Statistics.
Baroness Smith of Llanfaes
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
8 June 2026
Dear Baroness Smith,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what the median gross weekly pay for adults in full-time work in each region of the UK is (HL529).
The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. ASHE is based on a 1% sample of employee jobs taken from HM Revenue and Customs' Pay as You Earn (PAYE) records.
Table 1 below shows the median gross weekly pay for full-time employee jobs on adult rates by region for April 2025[1], taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). April 2025 is the latest period for which ASHE estimates are available. As with any survey, estimates from ASHE are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
The April 2025 data is provisional and will be revised in line with normal practice for our October 2026 publication.
The information provided can be found in our latest publication Employee earnings in the UK: 2025[2] and in ASHE Table 3[3].
More timely data on average weekly earnings is published in our Average weekly earnings (AWE) in Great Britain publication[4]. Our AWE average weekly earnings are our short-term measure of employee earnings and provide an estimate of mean pay for full-time and part- time employees combined. While AWE does not provide median weekly pay for full-time employees and are not available at region level, the most recent data (first quarter of 2026), give an indication of how employee pay has grown in the last year. Our latest estimates from AWE indicate that annual growth in average regular earnings (excluding bonuses) in Great Britain was 3.4% in the three-month period to March 2026.
Table 1: Estimates of median gross weekly pay (£) for full-time employee jobs on adult rates by region, April 2025
Region | Median (£) |
United Kingdom | 766.6 |
Great Britain | 766.6 |
England and Wales | 766.6 |
England | 770.7 |
North East | 681.2 |
North West | 734.2 |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 708.2 |
East Midlands | 703.8 |
West Midlands | 730.4 |
East | 766.6 |
London | 958.2 |
South East | 775.8 |
South West | 728.7 |
Wales | 704.3 |
Scotland | 773.8 |
Northern Ireland | 713.1 |
Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
[1] Estimates for 2025 are provisional.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential contribution of a youth mobility scheme with the EU to economic growth.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
We have agreed that we will work towards the establishment of a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU. This will create new opportunities for cultural exchange between the UK and the EU. It will be good for the economy, good for growth and good for business. Any scheme will be time-limited and capped, and we have also been clear that it should be in line with the UK’s existing schemes with countries like Australia and New Zealand. The Government is committed to providing appropriate analysis of our EU deal but we will not be able to provide a full assessment of the impacts whilst detailed negotiations are ongoing.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 16 April (HL6583), how they propose to engage formally with Members of the House on further House of Lords reform; and whether they have decided on a timeline for implementing the other House of Lords reforms outlined in the Labour Party manifesto.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Government is grateful for the continued interest that Noble Lords have taken in its manifesto commitments to reform the House of Lords.
The Government will set out more detail in due course about how it intends to continue the dialogue with the House on how best to implement these commitments.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had with the government of Wales ahead of the UK–EU summit and what topics were on the agenda in those meetings.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Welsh Government was engaged at both official and Ministerial level in the pre-Summit period. This included regular official-led meetings and bilateral meetings between the Minister for the Cabinet Office with the Welsh First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for the Economy. There was also an Inter-Ministerial Group on UK-EU relations in Edinburgh, chaired by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, the week before the Summit on 12 May.
Pre-Summit engagement included a range of topics, including potential summit outcomes that would be a devolved responsibility.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish a timeline for subsequent House of Lords reform after the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill has concluded.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Alongside the passage of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, the government has been engaged in a dialogue with the House on how we can best implement the Government’s other manifesto commitments. I look forward to continuing that dialogue and considering how to approach it in a more structured way.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will review the right of Church of England bishops to sit in the House of Lords.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government is supportive of the inclusion of individuals from all backgrounds in the House of Lords and believes the second chamber is enriched by members who bring diverse experience. This includes the Lords Spiritual.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office on 6 February (HC Deb col 964), what is the breakdown by department of the "nearly 70 direct engagements" held between UK Ministers and their EU counterparts since July 2024.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Responsibility for UK-EU Relations lies with the Cabinet Office and the Paymaster General and Minister for the Constitution and EU Relations Nick Thomas-Symonds, who has spoken with his counterpart Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič seven times. The Prime Minister has spoken with Commission President von der Leyen seven times and with Council President Costa three. Ministers across Government also regularly engage with their EU counterparts, including meetings held by FCDO, DSIT, DBT, DESNZ, HMT, HO, DEFRA, DCMS and others.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office on 6 February on EU–UK relations (HC Deb cols 963–4), what is the breakdown by department of the 70 direct engagements between UK ministers and EU counterparts.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Responsibility for UK-EU Relations lies with the Cabinet Office and the Paymaster General and Minister for the Constitution and EU Relations Nick Thomas-Symonds, who has spoken with his counterpart Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič seven times. The Prime Minister has spoken with Commission President von der Leyen six times and with Council President Costa twice. Ministers across Government also regularly engage with their EU counterparts, including meetings held by FCDO, DSIT, DBT, DESNZ, HMT, HO, DEFRA, DCMS and others.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what impact the planned reduction in civil service personnel will have on relevant employees based in Wales.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The Prime Minister’s announcement of longer term reductions in Civil Service numbers is a reiteration of the policy announced by the Chancellor in October 2023. The longer term reductions will build on the shorter term headcount cap put in place through to March 2025. The detail of how individual organisations will be affected by the return to pre-pandemic numbers will form a key part of the next comprehensive spending review.