Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the graduate visa route on export earnings.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government remains committed to sustainable growth in student numbers and the International Education Strategy ambition to host 600,000 international students a year. The Department for Business and Trade is aware of the potential impact of any changes to the Graduate Route visa via assessments made by stakeholders such as Universities UK. To that end, HMG’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, is advising the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Graduate Route.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make it her policy to require workers to be paid at least (a) £10.90 per hour in the UK and (b) £11.95 per hour in London.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In April 2023, the National Living Wage (NLW) rose by a record amount, to £10.42 an hour. The annual minimum wage rates are based on recommendations of the Low Pay Commission (LPC), an independent body which draws on a range of research and stakeholder evidence to strike a balance between support for low paid workers, affordability for business and the impact on the wider economy.
The Government praises those organisations which are able to go further than the statutory minimum rates, but the figures endorsed by the Living Wage Foundation for London and the rest of the UK are voluntary.