National Minimum Wage rises to £6.31 per hour

The National Minimum Wage is to rise by 12p an hour to £6.31 for adults and by 5p to £5.03 for 18-to-20-year-olds from October.

The Government announced that the minimum wage for apprentices would also rise by 2p to £2.68 an hour, despite a recommendation by the Low Pay Commission to freeze it.

Despite that, the increases are below current levels of inflation. The Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation stands at 3.2% and the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) at 2.8%.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "There is worrying evidence that a significant number of employers are not paying apprentices the relevant minimum wage rate.

"Apprenticeships are at the heart of our goal to support a stronger economy, and so it is important to continue to make them attractive to young people. Therefore, I am not taking forward the LPC's recommendation to freeze the apprenticeship rate due to non-compliance, but instead am raising it in line with the youth rates.

"We are working on a series of tough new measures to ensure we tackle non-compliance issues across the board."