Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support hospices that rely on charitable donations, in the context of changes to National Insurance thresholds.

We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, which 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 contributions (ENICs) rise will be implemented in April 2025.

The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, like hospices, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with ENICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim ENICs reliefs, including those for under 21 and under 25 year old apprentices, where eligible.  The Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.