Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on trends in the level of growth of small and medium-sized businesses.

The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500 meaning, that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all next year, and more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package.

All eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no Employer NICs. Additionally, 4.1million SMEs do not employ anyone aside from the business owner and will not be affected by these tax rises.