Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the number of civil servants who are paid less than the Living Wage Foundation's real living wage.

This government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, and always adheres to the statutory National Living Wage. This will rise from £9.50 to £10.42 an hour from 1 April 2023, an increase of 9.7%. There are an estimated 5,710 civil servants who are paid less than the 2021/22 Living Wage Foundation's real living wage (£11.05 if based in London, or £9.90 if based outside of London).

Figures are based on the centrally held numbers and salaries of civil servants collected in the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey as at March 2022, and may differ from those provided by individual departments. Civil servants located outside the UK or with an unreported location (6,995) or without a reported hourly rate (an additional 150) have been excluded.