• October 2, 2023

National minimum wage to be increased: sanctions on benefit claimants who refuse to seek work

LONDON Oct 2: Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt is to announce a hike in the national minimum wage today. Hunt is keen to announce a rise in the minimum wage for workers over 23 years old to at least 11 pounds an hour from 10.42 pounds.

The chancellor will guarantee that the national living wage will rise by at least £1,000 next year, meeting a 2019 manifesto commitment to increase pay for the lowest paid to two-thirds of median earnings.

He will promise to introduce new sanctions on benefit claimants who refuse to seek work, which Tory insiders said could be aimed at up to 100,000 people.

Hunt’s promise to follow the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission — which is expected to propose a rise in the hourly rate to at least £11 — is cast as an attempt to help struggling families.

The pledge to toughen the sanctions regime is less well developed but will form part of Hunt’s efforts to get more people off benefits and into work at his Autumn Statement.

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