Chancellor John Healey has declined to commit to equalising minimum wage rates for younger and older workers before the next election, raising the prospect that Labour will not deliver its manifesto pledge within this Parliament.

Labour promised in 2024 to remove age-based minimum wage bands and close the gap for workers aged 18 to 20. Last week’s Budget, however, gave younger workers the same increase as older workers, leaving the difference intact. In 2026, the minimum hourly rate will be £11.27 for 18 to 20-year-olds and £13.21 for those over 20: a gap of £1.94.

Asked in an interview due to be broadcast on Sunday whether the rates would be equal by the next election, Healey said the government would proceed step by step. He maintained that equalisation remained its ambition, but did not give a deadline.

His argument centres on the balance between higher wages and employment opportunities. Healey suggested that the pace of change should take account of businesses’ willingness to recruit younger workers, and said he wanted employers and trade unions involved in the decisions. He described a million young people as lacking prospects of help into work.

That leaves a distinction between retaining the policy and committing to deliver it. No abandonment has been announced, but a delay beyond the next election would put Labour’s delivery of its promise in question. The prospect is likely to anger unions and some on the party’s left.

Healey also signalled a willingness to make substantial reductions in some areas of public spending to bring down government debt. Budget documents set out real-terms cuts for some departments in the coming years, although the Institute for Fiscal Studies has questioned whether the government will implement them.

Pressed on reductions exceeding 2% a year for some departments, Healey said the government would carry its approach through to its 10-year plan and next year’s spending review. He pointed to work already under way to prepare those decisions, leaving the detailed allocation of cuts to that process.