Research relating to the impacts of the minimum wage, 2-year projects (open call)

The Low Pay Commission (LPC) invites tenders for new or innovative research in relation to the National Living Wage (NLW) and the National Minimum Wage (NMW). This invitation to tender is aimed at larger pieces of research which will add substantial, new insight on the impacts or workings of the minimum wage. We will commission up to three projects under this call.

Projects will deliver final results in Autumn 2028. We have also published a call for smaller-scale projects (LPC 2026/01), which would final deliver results by September 2027. The deadline for bids under 2026/01 is 1 September 2026. Please carefully consider which is most suitable for your project.

The Low Pay Commission is a non-departmental public body that advises the government about the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including the National Living Wage (NLW) and the minimum wage rates for young workers and apprentices. We are responsible for evaluating the effects of the NMW and NLW and making recommendations on future rates. To carry out these functions, our work involves:

• carrying out extensive consultation with employers, workers and their representatives and taking written and oral evidence from a wide range of organisations;
• analysing relevant data to understand the state of the economy and labour market and the impact of the minimum wage;
• commissioning research projects into these questions.

This research will fill gaps in our current understanding of the impacts of the minimum wage, particularly the increases in the minimum wage rates since 2019. It will complement the LPC's own analysis of pay, the labour market and the broader economy and sit alongside other pieces of commissioned research.

The pandemic and its aftermath have disrupted many of the usual data sources upon which we rely. However, there have also been recent developments in new data sources, and in data linking. We are therefore keen to consider tenders that can take advantage of these.

A list of suggested topics for research is provided in Section A2 of the Invitation to Tender document. However, we recognise that there may be areas of investigation worth pursuing that we have not yet identified, or which have not previously been considered in great depth. Researchers who believe that they have a worthwhile proposal that would fall into these categories are welcome to submit it for consideration. We would also encourage proposals from those who wish to extend current research on the impact of the minimum wage, whether that original research was funded by us or another organisation.

There is global interest among policymakers in the impact of the NLW. The findings from this research will directly inform policy decisions touching the lives of millions of workers and thousands of businesses as well as contributing to policy formation in the UK and beyond.

The maximum estimated budget for any single project under this call is £100,000 excluding VAT (£120,000 including VAT). We recognise that proposed projects may vary in their scale and resource requirements and anticipate bids in the range of £60,000 to £100,000 excluding VAT. Tenders will be evaluated on value for money, so bidders should consider the scale and value added of their project and price accordingly.

We are only able to evaluate complete tenders. The components of a complete tender are detailed in Section 5, Part E of the Invitation to Tender document. They include written responses addressing the three quality criteria: understanding the requirements and context (A01), methodology and approach (A02) and ability to deliver (A03); a detailed pricing schedule and completion/provision of relevant documents to fulfil the commercial criteria.