Cost of living crisis continues as pay rise expectations fall

CARS. Who’d have them? We have two in our household. With two children, it does make life somewhat easier, especially when operating ‘parents’ taxis’.

Two cars mean double the costs and spring seems to bring with it some unwanted expenses – £500 to fix water damage, £400 service/MOT and a heat shield repair, £400 for new brake disks, plus new tyres at an additional £200.

We’ve also had to factor in a trip to New Zealand to visit family – which sadly isn’t a £9.99 special from Newcastle International.

My point is this: the cost of living crisis continues to affect us all.

Businesses continue to tell us that the price of raw materials still causes concern. Labour costs, business rates, utilities/fuel all continue to rise.

This, in turn, gets passed on to consumers who are already battling with higher costs associated with rent and mortgages.

CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, says that “employers’ basic pay increase expectations over the next 12 months have fallen for the first time since spring 2020”. They go on to say that “UK employers’ expected basic pay increases have fallen to 4%”.

As a Chamber, we very much continue to work with organisations across the spectrum to support where possible.

Devolution is only a month or so away. We already know that the mayor will have a £900m package of investment to transform our transport system, with £563m from the City Regional Sustainable Transport Fund, on top of funding already announced for buses and the Metro.

Accessing affordable, reliable transport is one of the key drivers for getting people back into work – as well as continuing sustainable employment. We look forward to working with the new combined authority to support initiatives.

From April 1, the national living wage increased to £11.44 an hour for workers aged 21 and over.

Previously, you had to be 23 to qualify. This is reported as an increase of £1,800 a year for a full-time adult worker.

Newcastle has officially launched an action plan to become a ‘living wage city’. The initiative, supported by the Living Wage Foundation, seeks to increase pay across the city to £12 per hour, for all workers aged over 18.

There are currently 174 living wage employers based in Newcastle, all committed to paying their staff the real living wage.

As your Chamber, we continue to work with stakeholders to reduce regional inequalities and create access to opportunities across the UK, including in the North East.