Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the impact of employer National Insurance contribution changes on consumer prices in supermarkets.

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.

The Government has already taken action to help reduce the cost of living by announcing that it is suspending tariffs on food to bring down prices for consumers. An initial list was published on 20 May for implementation on 21 June. A call for input opened on 27 May and is due to close on 24 June, to get views from businesses and other stakeholders on a second package of tariff suspensions.

Consumer price inflation (CPI) for food and non-alcoholic beverages fell from 3.7% in March to 3% in April.