Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of the employer National Insurance contributions on the economy in Wales.

The government recognises the need to protect the smallest employers which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change. SMEs account for 99.3% of total enterprises in Wales.

The previous Conservative Government left us a £22bn black hole in public finances and the highest debt burden in 70 years – we are fixing the mess the party left to kickstart economic growth and put more money in people’s pockets.