Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support businesses that provide services to the NHS in rural areas, in the context of changes to the level of employer National Insurance contributions at the Autumn Budget 2024.

We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer National Insurance rise will be implemented April 2025, the Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course, including through NHS Planning Guidance, and the usual consultations.