Autumn Budget: Minimum wage to rise to £9.50 an hour

The minimum wage is to rise to £9.50 an hour for workers aged over 23, it has been announced.

The rise - from £8.91 - will take effect from April and means full-time workers will get an extra £1,074 a year before tax.

The move will be announced during tomorrow 's Budget and follows the recommendation of independent advisers, the Low Pay Commission.

The 6.6 per cent increase in the minimum pay rate for those aged over 23 - known as the National Living Wage - is more than twice the current 3.1 per cent rise in the cost of living.

Minimum pay rates for younger workers are also set to go up.

The National Minimum Wage for people aged 21 to 22 will rise from £8.36 to £9.18 an hour and the Apprentice Rate will increase from £4.30 to £4.81 an hour.

Raj Kandola (pictured), head of policy at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “Many businesses will understand the need to raise wages to help low-paid workers who were badly impacted by the pandemic.

“However, many businesses are also operating in an uncertain context - rising business rates, proposed increases to National Insurance and Corporation Tax all add to the pressures firms are facing, especially whilst also dealing with labour and supply shortages.

“If anything, this announcement makes it even more necessary for the Chancellor to use the upcoming Budget to reduce the crippling cost pressures that many businesses are facing - reforming the outmoded business rates system and maintaining a long-term reduction in VAT levels would be a sensible step in the right direction. ”

The GBCC policy team will be on hand to provide a full breakdown of what the Autumn Budget will mean for businesses - click here for more information.