Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of current National Insurance costs on closure rates among hospitality businesses.

The Government recognises the important role the hospitality sector plays both in terms of its economic contribution but also to our culture.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

Furthermore, the Government has protected the smallest hospitality businesses from recent changes to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500. While Business Rates is a devolved issue, we have introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties which are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

The Government is doing more to support sectors like hospitality. The National Licensing Policy Framework for England and Wales set a new strategic direction for licensing authorities to have more regard for growth. We are exploring planning reforms to help pubs and hospitality expand. The Hospitality Support Fund has helped pubs in rural areas to diversify, ensuring they can continue in their role as vital community hubs.

We have also introduced a new Community Right to Buy, the English Devolution Bill will ban upward only rent reviews, and the Pride in Place programme will provide up to £5bn over 10 years to support our high streets, and later this year we will bring forward a new High Streets Strategy, to reinvigorate our communities. We will work with businesses and representative bodies to pull this Strategy together.