More generous minimum wage a possibility
Business secretary Vince Cable has asked the Low Pay Commission to consider how the National Minimum Wage may be able to rise faster than current conditions allow.
The commission advises government on the appropriate level for the minimum wage, but its recent recommendations have led to only modest increases; between 2001 and 2006 they were much more generous.
An invitation to the commission to make recommendations for 2014 was issued in June. But now, Cable says more needs to be done to make sure that the benefits of growth are shared fairly across the board “as signs of an economic recovery start to emerge”.
This doesn’t mean a big increase can be expected in the short term, but the commission will be looking into the economic conditions needed to allow further increases, without hurting job prospects over a longer period.