During his speech to the Liberal Democrat conference on 6 October 2014 Business secretary Vince Cable has said he plans to increase the current National Minimum Wage for 16-17 years by more than £1 an hour, from £2.73 to £3.79.

If his plans go through this will be the first rise in the National Minimum Wage since the recession began.

The government is to make the proposal to the Low Pay Commission that there should be a single national minimum wage rate for apprentices and 16-17 year olds, with the apprenticeship rate rising by just over £1 to match the rate for 16-17 year olds.

Officials at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will today start the process of determining how clear the current employment framework is, what the options are to extend some employment rights to more people and whether there is scope to streamline this very complex area of employment law, thus simplifying and clarifying rights for both employers and employees.

In addition to this the government has also announced the launch of a "wide-ranging employment review to help clarify and potentially strengthen the employment status of workers." According to the press release:

Watch this space for further developments.

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