On Monday, an estimated 3,100 Borderers on the National Living Wage or National Minimum Wage are set to benefit from a pay rise, thanks to the UK Government.
The new financial year on 1st April will see the Living Wage increase by nearly 5% to £8.21. This means that a full-time worker on the rate will be given a £690 annual pay rise and will be over £2750 better off over the year compared to 2016, when the NLW was introduced.
The National Minimum Wage, which applies to under 25s will also increase by between 3.6% and 4.3% next year.
Taken together, these pay rises are set to benefit 7 per cent of all workers in the Scottish Borders, while Scotland wide, 159,000 employees will be getting a boost to their pay.
The figures were published in response to a Parliamentary Question from local MP John Lamont who has welcomed the news.
John Lamont MP said: “This pay rise will affect a significant number of Borderers, more than 3,000 people or nearly one in ten people in work.
“Since the National Living Wage was introduced by the UK Government, a full-time worker will be over £2,750 better off meaning those on lower incomes are being supported and being in work rather than on benefits pays.
“There is still much to be done to bring more highly paid jobs to the Borders. I’d certainly like more people in the Borders to be earning well above the minimum wage, but nevertheless this pay rise is to be welcomed.”
Question (John Lamont MP): To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many workers will receive an increase in wages as a result of the rise in the national living wage on 1 April 2019 in each Scottish parliamentary constituency. (235373)
Answer: (Kelly Tolhurst MP, Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility): On 1 April 2019, the Government is increasing the National Living Wage (NLW) to £8.21, keeping us on track to meet our target of the NLW reaching 60 percent of median earnings by 2020, subject to economic growth.
This means that a full-time worker on the rate will be over £2750 better off over the year compared to the year the NLW was introduced.
In April 2018, we estimated that 3,100 workers in Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk would benefit from the 2018 increases in the NLW and NMW, which accounted for 7 per cent of the workforce.
The Government has not published data on projected coverage of the NLW by constituency from 1 April 2019. However, we estimate that 159,000 workers in Scotland stand to benefit from increases in the NLW or National Minimum Wage (NMW).
We also expect workers earning above the NLW and NMW to benefit from indirect pay increases. Across the UK, we estimate that at least 20% of workers, which is over 5 million people, will directly or indirectly benefit from April’s uprating. This estimate was made from data published in the Government’s Impact Assessment for the 2019 uprating of the NMW and NLW, and the Office for National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey statistics.
Ross Sanderson
Mob: 07709 105810
