Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increases in employer National Insurance contributions on (a) levels of staff costs for homecare providers and (b) the delivery of social care services.

The Government assessed the impact of the cost pressures facing adult social care as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the Spending Review process. This assessment took account of a range of factors that could affect the delivery of social care services, including changes to employer National Insurance Contributions.

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government has made available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26. There is also an extra £502 million of support for local authorities in England to manage the impact of changes to employer National Insurance Contributions announced at the Autumn Budget 2024.

In addition, the Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26.