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We estimate that the £7.50 rate will raise coverage - the number of workers paid at or below the NLW - by up to 390,000, from 1.6 million jobs (6.7 per cent of the cohort) in April 2016 to up to 2.0 million (8.3 per cent) in April 2017. Looking at progress towards the 60 per cent target, we estimate that the £7.50 rate will represent an increase in the relative value of the NLW for workers aged 25 and over of 1.1 percentage points, up from 55.8 per cent of the value of typical earnings (October 2016) to 56.8 per cent (October 2017).

Our goal is to make it easier for businesses to work with defence and make defence business more attractive to a wider range of suppliers, which is why this external consultation is so important.

The Autumn Statement announces for the first time that the UK government will also open negotiations with Stirling. This means that the UK government will have agreed, or be in discussions with, each of Scotland’s cities.

To kickstart this new approach, I will allow up to £1bn of the savings found by the efficiency review in 19/20 to be reinvested in priority areas and I have budgeted today accordingly.

The 4.2 per cent increase keeps the National Living Wage on course for the 2020 goal. The recommendation was a finely balanced decision. On the one hand, it is a significant increase at a time of average pay growth of around 2 per cent and should help protect low-paid workers from the higher inflation likely to result from the depreciation of sterling. On the other hand, it is lower than we previously projected and should help manage risks to employment.