Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on employers’ ability to employ (a) part-time and (b) lower earning employees who were previously not counted in employer National Insurance contributions.

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, civil society organisations and an overview of the equality impacts.

The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.

The Government is protecting the lowest paid by increasing the National Living Wage. This limits the ability of employers to pass on increases in costs to those on lower pay. The Government has also introduced important protections for workers as part of the Plan to Make Work Pay.