New appointments to the Low Pay Commission announced

The government has today (Wednesday 20 June) announced a number of new appointments and re-appointments to the independent Low Pay Commission (LPC), an independent body that advises the government about the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage.

Kate Bell, Simon Sapper and Martin McTague will replace John Hannett, Brian Strutton and Peter Donaldson. Kay Carberry, Professor Sarah Brown and Clare Chapman have all been re-appointed to their previous roles.

The appointments are for 3 years, with the option of reappointment.

Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said:

It is important that the lowest paid are fairly rewarded for their contribution to the economy and the National Minimum Wage has been making millions of workers better off since it was introduced.

The independent Low Pay Commission gives the government expert and impartial advice which is essential to this ongoing success.

I would like to thank the outgoing commissioners for the contribution and welcome the 3 new commissioners. They bring a wealth of experience to the commission and I am delighted to have them on board.

Kate Bell has been the Head of Economic and Social Affairs Department at the Trade Union Congress (TUC) since July 2016. Before joining the TUC, Kate worked as Head of Policy and Public Affairs for a local authority and for the charities Child Poverty Action Group and Gingerbread. Kate will join the LPC an employee commissioner

Simon Sapper is a senior leader with over 30 years’ experience in high profile campaigning, regulatory and membership organisations across public, private and voluntary sectors. Simon will join LPC as employee commissioner

Martin McTague is the director of Politics NE Ltd/Pical CIC (Public Policy Consultancy). He is also the Managing Director of A3C Solutions Ltd an IT company. He is also a policy director at the Federation of Small Businesses. Martin will join LPC as an employer commissioner

Kay Carberry was a Low Pay Commissioner from 1 November 2012 to 30 November 2017. She was Assistant General Secretary of the TUC before retirement at the end of February 2016 having previously been the first head of the TUC’s Equal Rights Department, set up in 1988. Kay will be re-joining as employee commissioner.

Professor Sarah Brown became a Low Pay Commissioner on 26th March 2015. She is a Professor of Economics at the University of Sheffield and a director of the Institute for Economic Analysis of Decision-making (InstEAD) at the University of Sheffield. Her research interests lie in the areas of labour economics, household finances and applied microeconometrics. Sarah continues as an independent commissioner.

Clare Chapman is a non-executive director and Remuneration Committee Chair at Kingfisher PLC. Prior to this Clare has held executive roles leading HR in some of the world’s largest enterprises including Quaker Oats, PepsiCo and Tesco’s. Her most recent role was as Group People Director for BT. Between 2007 and 2011 Clare was the Director General of Workforce for the NHS and Social Care. Clare has also served on a number of expert bodies, including the Good Work Commission and the Modern Apprenticeship Taskforce. Clare continues as an employer commissioner. 

The other Low Pay Commissioners are: 

Bryan Sanderson – Interim Chair (independent)
Neil Carberry – Commissioner (employer)
Professor Richard Dickens – Commissioner (independent)