Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people paid below the Real Living Wage in (a) London and (b) the rest of the UK.

This Government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone. Through the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW) the Government protects the lowest paid within our society and ensures they are fairly rewarded for their contribution to the economy.

The NMW and NLW rates are legal minimum thresholds. These rates are different from the Living Wage which is a voluntary minimum rate of pay endorsed by the Living Wage Foundation. The Government commends the work of the Living Wage Foundation and those employers who commit to paying the Living Wage rates.

In April 2020, we will be increasing the NLW by 6.2% to £8.72 meeting the Government’s target of reaching 60% of median earnings by 2020. The Low Pay Commission estimates that these increases to the NMW and NLW will directly benefit over 2.8 million people. Last year, the Chancellor pledged to raise the NLW further, to two-thirds of median earnings, to an expected £10.50 by 2024, making the UK the first major economy in the world to set such an ambition.