WIREDGOV

On Monday 1 October 2012 the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rose in accordance with the recommendations set out by the Low Pay Commission in its 2012 report.

From October 2012:

· The adult rate will increase by 11 pence to £6.19 an hour

· The rate for 18-20 year olds will remain at £4.98 an hour

· The rate for 16-17 year olds will remain at £3.68 an hour

· The rate for apprentices will increase by 5 pence to £2.65 an hour and

· The accommodation offset will increase by 9 pence to £4.82 per day.

The Government is committed to the NMW because of the protection it provides to low paid workers and the incentives it provides to work. Around 1 million of Britain’s lowest-paid workers will gain from these changes.

Notes to editors:

1. The Press Notice where the Government accepted the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations can be found here: http://news.bis.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=423769&NewsAreaID=2

2. For more information about the changes to National Minimum Wage visit www.facebook.com/nmwage

3. The Government's economic policy objective is to achieve 'strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries.' It set four ambitions in the ‘Plan for Growth’ (PDF 1.7MB), published at Budget 2011:

· To create the most competitive tax system in the G20

· To make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business

· To encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy

· To create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe.

Work is underway across Government to achieve these ambitions, including progress on more than 250 measures as part of the Growth Review. Developing an Industrial Strategy gives new impetus to this work by providing businesses, investors and the public with more clarity about the long-term direction in which the Government wants the economy to travel.

4. BIS's online newsroom contains the latest press notices and speeches, as well as video and images for download. It also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom for more information.