HMRC to host national living wage webinar

Following concerns raised by AccountingWEB members in the past week about the national living wage HMRC’s agent and business support representative Toni Clark alerted us to a lunchtime “talking points” webinar on the subject at 1pm on Monday 14 March.

From April, the national living wage of £7.20 an hour will be mandatory for workers aged 25 and older.  In his Summer Budget Chancellor George Osborne announced his intention that it should rise to £9 an hour by 2020

Picking up on the topic in Any Answers, AccountingWEB members discussed the likely impacts on different sectors such as hospitality, healthcare and childcare.

Looking ahead to 2020, Glennzy warned that healthcare will be hit particularly hard by the £9 living wage. The industry’s fees are set by local authorities who claim they have no money, “so care home operators are going to struggle” unless more funding is made available for the sector, he predicted.

Jessica Hilton was equally concerned about the effects on the childcare industry, where wages will be going up, but the government hasn’t increased the rate for the 15 free hours of nursery care under-4s are entitled to.

“I can see Nurseries and Pre-Schools going out of business if the Government does not increase the amount they pay for the free Hours,” she said.

The business impacts are beyond HMRC’s control, but Clark said the talking points session would give accountants opportunities to question HMRC experts on the subject.  Visit the Working Together - Talking Points registration page if you would like to take part in Monday’s NLW session.