Employer National Insurance Contributions: Charities Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLee Dillon
Main Page: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)Department Debates - View all Lee Dillon's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
(2 days, 20 hours ago)
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson) for securing the debate. A reference was made to the unintended consequences of the Government’s decision, but actually they are not unintended consequences; there was a dereliction of duty because the Government did not do the impact assessments that they should have done to understand what they would do to our charity sector.
I recently visited West Berkshire Mencap in my constituency of Newbury. As a result of the financial pressures, the organisation will need to find an additional £163,000 to cover national insurance contributions, and its agency costs are projected to rise by approximately 12%. I also recently met Rachel Peters, the chief executive of Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, which last year provided advice and support to 403 individuals on volunteering. She expressed grave concern about the impact that the changes will have in Newbury, with staffing costs alone projected to rise by 18%. Overall within the charities that she represents, an additional £387,000 will need to be found in the next financial year, with hardly any time to plan.