Information on Loughborough

Loughborough MP Welcomes Increase in Minimum Wage

Posted on 06/03/2008
P. Klein

21p increase

Andy Reed MP has welcomed the news that the Government is increasing the Minimum Wage for people working in Loughborough.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown today announced the adult National Minimum Wage (NMW) rate will rise by 21p / hour from £5.52 / hour to £5.73 / hour. This equates to a 3.8% increase. The rate for 18-21 year olds will also increase from £4.60 to £4.77, while the 16-17 year old rate will rise from £3.40 to £3.53. Nearly one million low paid employees, two thirds of them women, will benefit from the increase across the UK.

The Government has also boosted funding for enforcement of the NMW and is planning tough new penalties for rogue employers who underpay staff as part of the Employment Bill, now before the Parliament.

Business Secretary John Hutton said: "The national minimum wage remains one of the most important rights introduced by the Government in the last decade. Before it was introduced, some workers could expect to be paid as little as 35p an hour. Our legislation has ensured that can no longer happen.”

Together with the Working and Child Tax Credits, the national minimum wage will currently guarantee that every family with one child and one person in full-time work will receive a minimum income of £276 per week from October 2007, up from £182 in April 1999. Despite many predictions to the contrary, job numbers in the industries that are most affected by the minimum wage have grown over the same period.

Loughborough MP Andy Reed told inLoughborough:

“This is good news for hardworking families in Loughborough and shows the Government’s commitment to helping all people in society – but especially those on the lowest wages.

“Let’s not forget that since Labour introduced the National Minimum Wage in April 1999 has, since then, helped people all across the country receive a fairer wage for the work they do and helped pull an estimated 1 million people out of poverty. The Conservatives, on the other hand, opposed the introduction of a National Minimum Wage and the assistance it gives to people.

“I will continue to fight on behalf of local workers to see that we continue to get increases to the Minimum Wage and entitlements that people in Loughborough deserve.”