Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of recent increases in the National Living Wage on the financial sustainability of small businesses in (a) hospitality, (b) retail and (c) other sectors.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government considers the expert and independent advice of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) when setting the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates. Each year, the Government’s remit to the LPC asks it to take into account the impact on businesses, including small businesses, as well as the wider economy. To inform its recommendations, the LPC undertakes extensive consultation, research and data analysis.
The Government has published an Impact Assessment for the 2025 rates, which sets out the potential impacts on small businesses and the range of mitigations and policy measures in place to support them.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of minimum wage rises on hiring practices of pub chains.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government published an Impact Assessment (IA) for the 2025 National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage (NLW) rates, which includes a breakdown of the expected impacts by sector. The IA also sets out the economic literature to date, which shows that increases to the NLW have had a limited impact on labour demand, as measured by employment levels and hours worked.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the increase in the minimum wage on the trends in levels of hospitality workers.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government published an Impact Assessment (IA) for the 2025 National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage (NLW) rates, which includes a breakdown of the expected impacts by sector. The IA also sets out the economic literature to date, which shows that increases to the NLW have had a limited impact on labour demand, as measured by employment levels and hours worked.