Ahead of the Chancellor’s 2026 Budget Statement later this week, Community Leisure UK, the membership association for social enterprises and charities delivering public leisure across the UK, is urging the Government to listen its members on National Living Wage (NLW), and work constructively to ensure fair pay that is affordable for employers.
Amid speculation that the NLW could increase by 5.4%, to £13.40 per hour, there is a serious question on affordability for many organisations delivering public services. At a time of unprecedented local authority budget pressures, it remains unclear how such an increase could be funded. Such an increase would be above the central estimate from the Low Pay Commission of £13.18, and significantly above the rate of inflation. As public services, accessibility and affordability are paramount, and it is therefore impossible for our members to pass on the full impact of operational cost increases to customers.
On average, approximately 70% of our members’ workforce are in frontline roles, with many of these being on NLW or slightly above NLW. It is not affordable for many of our members to give pay awards at the same level across their workforce as the NLW increase, and this has been the case for a number of years now, resulting in a continual erosion of differentials between job roles.
Since 2020, the NLW has increased by
It is impossible for pay awards across our members to keep pace with this rate of increase, and a challenge for employers to maintain differentials between job roles to recognise, skills, responsibility and experience.
