Miliband in pledge to tackle low pay in Bloxwich visit

Promising to make the biggest changes to the national minimum wage since it was introduced 15 years ago, he said hard work 'must once again be the route to a decent life'.

During a visit to Bloxwich Leisure Centre today, where he was backing his party's bid to seize control of Walsall Council in Thursday's election, he said low pay was costing the Government £3.23 billion as people were forced to rely on state benefits despite having a job.

"A Labour government will establish a clear link between the level of the minimum wage and the scale of wages paid to other workers in our economy," he said.

"We will say workers on the minimum wage must never be left behind because those who work hard to create our nation's wealth should share in it," he said.

It comes as new figures reveal today that the average wage in Wolverhampton is £22,500 while in another part of the West Midlands, Solihull it is £30,600.

Mr Miliband sought to reassure employers about his plans, amid concerns that it will cost them more to take people on.

"Just as when the last Labour government created the National Minimum Wage, the next Labour government will do this in partnership with business once again, allowing employers the certainty they need to plan ahead," he said.

"I will set out the precise ambition Labour will propose closer to the election."

Douglas Hansen-Luke, who is standing for the Tories in Walsall North at the next General Election, said Labour was out of touch with concerns in the Black Country.

He said: "Top concerns are immigration, benefits fraud, Europe and balancing the budget. Walsall North has been held by Labour since 1979 but the last Labour leader to visit was Neil Kinnock."

Alan Buckle, the former deputy chairman of KPMG International, who was asked by Ed Miliband to investigate how to restore the value of the minimum wage, said: "The current system was designed in the 1990s to stop extreme low pay and abuse. But, with millions of people earning just above the minimum still living in poverty, we need a broader and more ambitious strategy to tackle low pay and move to a more high skill, high wage economy. Businesses have choices about how to compete, and policymakers should seek to create incentives to encourage more productive, higher value business models."