Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his estimate is of the cost to local authorities of the increased minimum wage announced in the 2015 Summer Budget payable to (a) local authority employees and (b) employees of private contractors and service providers in each year from 2016-17 to 2019-20.

The Office of Budget Responsibility estimated that wage costs across the whole UK economy would increase by £4 billion by 2020 as a result of the implementation of the National Living Wage, assuming no changes to employment or hours worked. Some of those costs will be faced by the public sector, including local government. The impact on local government of the introduction of the National Living Wage will be considered as part of an overall assessment of spending pressures as part of the Spending Review process.