Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it remains his policy to increase the rate of National Insurance in April 2022.

The Government announced the Health and Social Care Levy on 7 September 2021 and passed the legislation on 20 October 2021.

The Levy will allow the Government to implement necessary adult social care reform, tackle the elective backlog in the NHS as it recovers from Coronavirus, develop our pandemic response and preparedness, and ensure the NHS has the resources it needs throughout this Parliament.

The Government is committed to responsible management of the public finances and it is important that this spending is fully funded, particularly in the context of record borrowing and debt to fund the economic response to COVID-19.

A levy charged on the National Insurance Contributions base is the fairest way to raise the funds needed to support health and social care. It ensures the lowest earners are protected from increases as National Insurance has a threshold to protect the lowest paid. The highest earning 15 per cent will pay over half the revenue raised from the Levy and 6.1 million people earning less than the Primary Threshold (£9,880 in the year 2022-23), will not pay the Levy. In addition, using National Insurance as the basis ensures businesses will also pay the Levy. Businesses benefit from having a healthy workforce, so it is only fair that they contribute.