National Minimum Wage rates announced

17 March 2015

From 1 October 2015 the adult National Minimum Wage (NWM) rate is to increase by 20 pence and the apprenticeship rate will see the largest ever increase.

The Government has announced that from 1 October 2015:

  • the adult rate will increase by 20 pence to £6.70 per hour
  • the rate for 18 to 20 year olds will increase by 17 pence to £5.30 per hour
  • the rate for 16 to 17 year olds will increase by 8 pence to £3.87 per hour
  • the apprentice rate will increase by 57 pence to £3.30 per hour
  • the accommodation offset increases from the current £5.08 to £5.35.

This is the largest real-terms increase in the National Minimum Wage since 2007, and more than 1.4 million of Britain’s lowest-paid workers are set to benefit.

The government has rejected the LPC’s recommendation for the apprentice rate. The new apprenticeship rate will be set at £3.30 and represents a rise of 57 pence, the largest ever increase in the National Minimum Wage for apprentices. By implementing a rate higher than the LPC’s recommendation, the government intends that apprenticeships will deliver a wage that is comparable to other choices for work.

Business Secretary Vince Cable is also planning to launch the National Minimum Wage Accelerator - an online tool which will make it easier to compare rates of pay across regions, sectors and occupations. It will take data from the annual survey of hours and earnings and display information about pay so that people are able to compare wages with others in their sector and region.

 

CIPP comment

The CIPP are very pleased to see that the Government has added an additional 50 pence on to the Low Pay Commission’s recommendation for the apprentice rate. A particularly welcome announcement following National Apprenticeship Week.

Currently, more than 100,000 employers in England offer Apprenticeships in 200,000 locations, covering more than 170 industries and 1500 different job roles.

As part of National Apprenticeship Week, the CIPP called on companies across the UK to take part in its #100in100days Apprenticeship challenge and actively work alongside the CIPP to help train 100 payroll stars of the future. Your company can still be involved in our challenge – visit cipp.org.uk for further contact information.