National Insurance Contributions (Increase of Thresholds) Bill

Debate between David Evennett and Simon Clarke

2nd reading
Thursday 24th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend is making a powerful and informative speech. I welcome this Bill, as will my constituents in Bexleyheath and Crayford, because it is helping those on lower incomes. Increasing the national insurance threshold to be the same as the personal allowance is sensible and logical, and it will help the simplification and understanding of the system. I very much hope that he and the Government will in future look at more simplification of the system.

[Mr Clarke]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right in saying that we want a simpler tax system, and we want to make sure that the burden of tax is lower. In the end, the tax system should be an incentive that rewards work, and that is what our measures today continue to support. On the point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Ruth Edwards), 70% of all workers will have their NICs cut by more than the amount they will pay through the new health and social care levy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Evennett and Simon Clarke

Tuesday 15th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

T10.   I regularly visit businesses throughout my constituency, and have been fortunate enough to meet some very talented apprentices who are eager to develop their skills and build careers. Does my hon. Friend agree that apprenticeships will play a key role in closing the skills gap by helping young people to gain employment in more highly skilled roles, and can he say what action the Government are taking to encourage more employers to take on more apprentices?

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Simon Clarke)]

My hon. Friend has made an excellent point. He is right to champion the value of apprenticeships, in which the Government keenly believe. I had a great roundtable with apprentices in Newcastle recently, and heard for myself just what a difference they are making both to their employer and to the wider economy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Evennett and Simon Clarke

Tuesday 2nd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

9. What progress his Department has made on supporting young people into high-skilled jobs.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Simon Clarke)]

Through our plan for jobs, nearly 95,000 young people so far have started a kickstart job; we have extended that scheme to March 2022. More than 100,000 apprentices, of whom 75% were under 25 years old, have been hired under our new incentive payments. More than 17,000 young people have started a traineeship, and we have provided funding for 24,000 traineeships a year at the spending review.

[Mr Clarke]

My hon. Friend is always a fantastic champion for Stoke and the wider community. There are 145 employer-designed apprenticeship standards that relate to engineering and manufacturing roles. At the spending review, we announced that funding for apprenticeships will increase to £2.7 billion by 2024-25. We are also continuing to improve the system for employers. That includes an enhanced recruitment service for small and medium-sized enterprises, supporting the use of flexible training models, and a new return-on-investment tool so that employers can see the benefits that apprentices create in their business.

[Sir David Evennett]

We all welcome the fact that nearly 100,000 young people across the country have already started a job through the kickstart scheme, including 20,000 in London. Does my right hon. Friend agree that by extending the scheme until March next year, we are giving more young people the opportunity to develop the skills, confidence and experience that they need to get into high-skilled, high-wage and long-term sustainable jobs?

[Mr Clarke]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. Kickstart is providing valuable jobs and work experience to thousands of young people. As of last week, nearly 95,000 young people had started a kickstart job, compared with 56,000 young people at the equivalent point for the last Labour Government’s future jobs fund. That shows that it is a very successful programme. With the current pace of starts, we are confident that earlier this month, 100,000 young people will have started a kickstart job.