Oral Answers to Questions

Paul Holmes Excerpts

Tuesday 8th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is working closely in a constructive way to bring together clusters of colleagues to discuss some of the pressing issues that span Departments and that no one Department can address on its own, whether that is reform of special educational needs and disabilities provision for early years, or tackling issues around homelessness and the cost of temporary accommodation. We are working cross-Government to address some of those cross-cutting issues.

[Paul Holmes (Hamble Valley) (Con)]

The Chancellor is right to focus on increasing economic growth, so will she please explain why my office is still waiting for a response on behalf of a small business to a letter that I sent on 12 December, asking her to look into the impacts of her national insurance rise on small businesses? We asked for an update on 11 February, I raised a point of order on 10 March, and I still have not had a response. Will she please get a response to me as soon as possible?

[Rachel Reeves]

I will follow up on that issue. The smallest businesses—those that employ the equivalent of four people on the national living wage—will be paying no national insurance at all from this April. Up to 1 million of the smallest businesses will be paying less or the same national insurance as they were paying previously.