Parliament and Government Update — 10 July 2026

Today’s official material focuses on public protection and workforce support, alongside committee scrutiny of government responses and accountability in key public areas.

Key points

• Low Pay Commission criteria published on whether to raise the National Living Wage target beyond two-thirds of median earnings.
• Ministers announced a crackdown on vapes marketed at children, including plain white packaging.
• Commons committees published reports on South East Water failures and large business tax compliance.

Main development

The Low Pay Commission published criteria to guide decisions on whether the National Living Wage (NLW) target should increase beyond two-thirds of median earnings. The policy paper sets out the evidence and decision criteria that should be considered when setting the NLW target level, directly linking the target to an assessment framework rather than treating any increase as automatic. [1]

Government announcements

• Ministers launched a crackdown on vapes marketed at children, including a shift to plain white packaging, with the UK Department of Health and Social Care leading and the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland offices involved. [2]
• Skills England published new plans aimed at ensuring training matches the skills local employers need, with the focus on helping local people move into local jobs. [3]

Committee reports

• The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee published a third special report on failures at South East Water, including the government response to the committee’s findings. [4]
• The Public Accounts Committee published its ninth report on large business tax compliance, focusing on how effectively large businesses meet tax requirements and the implications for public finances. [5]

Sources used

1. Criteria on increasing the National Living Wage target — GOV.UK
2. Ministers launch crackdown on vapes targeting kids — GOV.UK
3. Skills plans to train local people for local jobs — GOV.UK
4. 3rd Special Report – Failures at South East Water: Government Response — UK Parliament Committees
5. 9th Report – Large business tax compliance — UK Parliament Committees

Licensing

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Last updated

First published on 10 July 2026. No corrections at the time of publication.