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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effects of the National Living Wage on (a) local authority budgets and (b) home care services delivered by local authorities through private sector contracts.

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 the Spending Review process.