Planned rise in minimum wage to £9.21 per hour is set to be scrapped

Britain may not be able to afford a planned rise to the national living wage due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it emerged last night.

The living wage was expected to rise from £8.72 to to £9.21 per hour in April, but ministers and government officials are reportedly discussing applying an ’emergency break’ to the plan, according to The Telegraph. 

The decision not to go ahead with the increase would be announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the up-coming autumn budget.

A target had been set by the Chancellor that would see the rate increased to the equivalent of two-thirds of the country’s median earnings by 2024.

However, members of the Low Pay Commission are said to believe that companies would not be able to afford an increase to £9.21 in April. 

The commission has warned that the pandemic ‘clearly represents a very challenging set of circumstances for workers and employers alike, and will require us to review whether an emergency brake is required.’

The decision not to go ahead with the increase to the national living wage from £8.72 to to £9.21 per hour in April would be announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured) in the up-coming autumn budget if recommended by the Low Pay Commission

If evidence suggests the planned increase would be ‘damaging for the lowest-paid workers,’ the commission could trigger the emergency break, The Telegraph claims.

Ahead of the Autumn budget, the commission will meet to discuss what living wage recommendation to give to Mr Sunak. 

Currently, the national living wage applies to those who are 25 and over, while younger workers receive the lower national minimum wage, but from April, the wage was due to be extended to 23 and 24-year-olds. 

As of April 2020, minimum wage sits at £4.15 for apprentices, £4.55 for under 18s, £6.45 for 18 to 20s and £8.20 for 21 to 24-year-olds.

From April 2019 to March 2020, it was £3.90 for apprentices, £4.35 for under 18s, £6.15 for 18 to 20s and £7.70 for 21 to 24-year-olds. The living wage was £8.21.

The Chancellor’s target to continue increasing the living wage to two-thirds of median earnings by 2024 was conditional on ‘sustained economic growth’ in the UK.

The commission defined this as GDP growth of over 1 per cent. 

Increasing the national living wage to £8.72 from £8.21 was announced on December 30, 2019, and came as part of the Prime Minister’s pledge to ‘level up’ the country and improve living standards for new Tory voters in the North and the Midlands.

The announcement was in line with plans to hike the minimum wage for all employees aged 21 or over to £10.50 an hour by 2024 which were unveiled earlier in the year.