Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the rise in Employer's National Insurance Contributions on a) SMEs and b) hospitality businesses.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) changes. 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.

The Government protected the smallest businesses from these changes by more than doubling the Employment Allowance, which allows eligible employers to reduce their employer NICs bill by up to £10,500 per year.

More broadly, the Government is backing hospitality businesses with a package to support high streets which means that all retail, hospitality and leisure properties in England will see their business rates either frozen in real terms, reduced, or cut to zero.

The Government is also helping employers, particularly SMEs, recruit the workers they need by expanding local apprenticeship services, and providing eligible SMEs with a £2,000 hiring payment when recruiting young apprentices.