The UK Labour Government is raising wages for up to 220,000 Scots, boosting living standards and kickstarting growth
Real-terms pay rise will boost wages by £1,400 per year for an eligible full-time worker, while the apprentice rate goes up by 18
Workers across Scotland, including approximately 2,500 across the Livingston constituency and West Lothian, have received a pay rise as the new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates take effect.
Action from the UK Labour Government means full-time workers on the National Living Wage will see a real-terms pay increase of £1,400 per year, helping to provide families with better financial stability, improve living standards and kickstart growth as part of Labour's Plan for Change.
This uplift will deliver security for working people and ease the pressure on their day-to-day finances.
It also allows for further workers to potentially benefit from positive spill-over impacts including possible wage increases for those already earning more than the legal minimum. This UK Labour Government is unashamedly pro-worker which is why this year is the first where the Low Pay Commission, the body which recommends wage rates, was instructed to include the cost of living and inflation in its assessment.
On top of this, the Employment Rights Bill, a key pillar in the Plan to Make Work Pay, will release an additional £600 a year to some of the lowest paid workers. This will ensure that these workers receive an uplift to wages that delivers better quality of life.
Gregor Poynton, MP for the Livingston constituency said: "Labour has always been the party of working people and so I am proud that the UK Labour government will raise wages for up to 2,500 people across the Livingston constituency and West Lothian.
"Along with the 36 other Scottish Labour MPs, I have been backing the Labour government's plans to increase wages and give more Scots the opportunity of well paid, secure work.
"For someone in the Livingston constituency working full time on the National Living Wage, these changes mean a £1,400 pay rise. For local apprentices, it will mean a pay rise of 18%, a real vote of confidence in the next generation of workers."
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: "This well-deserved pay rise for up to 220,000 Scots is a landmark moment in the UK Government's Plan for Change. It will boost economic growth and put more money in people’s pockets - we will always ensure that working people benefit. "We are taking comprehensive action to deliver the biggest improvements to workers’ rights in a generation, where jobs will not only be better paid, but more secure and with employees having stronger rights.
"We will continue to do whatever is necessary to help more people into work - while always supporting those who cannot - as we secure Britain's future and a decade of renewal for households the length and breadth of Scotland."
The full increases from 1 April 2025 are:
• National Living Wage (21+) has increased 6.7%, from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour
• National Minimum Wage (18-20) has a record increase of 16.2%, from £8.60 to £10 per hour
• National Minimum Wage (under 18) has increased 18%, to £7.55 per hour
• Apprentice Rate has the largest increase of 18%, from £6.40 to £7.55 per hour
• Accommodation Offset of £10.66 per day