Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of maintaining the employer National Insurance threshold at its current level on employment and investment in manufacturing.

Employers pay secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions on an employee’s earnings above the Secondary Threshold, which is currently £5,000 a year. The Secondary Threshold applies separately to each employment, meaning employers benefit from a £5,000 threshold for every employee they employ.

The Government is committed to supporting the manufacturing sector. Through the 10-year Advanced Manufacturing sector plan, the Government aims to nearly double annual business investment in the advanced manufacturing sector to £39 billion by 2035

The Government is backing the Advanced Manufacturing sector with up to £4.3 billion in funding out to 2030, including up to £2.8 billion in R&D. Alongside this, a further £2 billion of R&D and capital funding is available for the automotive sector from 2030 to 2035 and up to £2.3 billion is available for the UK’s aerospace industry over the 10 year period up to 2035.