FIRM action is needed to make sure companies pay their workers the minimum wage, a Bolton MP has said.

Julie Hilling, MP for Bolton West, took part in a debate with ministers from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, and also called for the government to ask more companies to pay employees the living wage.

She said: “When many large employers are making vast profits but charging the taxpayer by paying their employees the minimum wage and when families are hit by the cost of living crisis, why will the Minister not follow Labour’s lead and our plans to incentivise employers to pay a living wage through “make work pay” contracts?”

Minister Jo Swinson said the government is taking tough action on employers who break the minimum wage law.

She added: “We have made it simpler to name and shame employers that do not pay the national minimum wage properly and increased the financial penalty that employers pay for breaking the law.

“The government will always support and encourage businesses to pay higher than the national minimum wage, where they can.”