Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases to employer's National Insurance Contributions on independent specialist schools.

The government has taken the decision to increase the rate of employer National Insurance contributions (NIC) from 6 April 2025 by 1.2 percentage points, from 13.8% to 15%, to ensure it can deliver the investment that public services need.

From April 2025, the government is also increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500 and expanding this to all eligible employers by removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold. Over half of employers with NIC liabilities will see no change or gain overall from this measure.

The department is allocating an additional £125 million to local authorities for them to pass on to special schools for the extra costs they will incur as a result of the NIC increase. Non-maintained special schools will get this funding directly from the department. These NIC funding allocations will be published in May 2025, for payment later in the year.