Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of (a) employers national insurance contributions and (b) national minimum wage increases on the hair salon industry.

For national insurance contributions, increasing the employment Allowance to £10,500 will mean that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all and more than half of employers see no change or gain overall from this package, including many businesses in the hair and beauty industries.

On minimum wage, approximately 40,000 workers in the hair and beauty sector, representing around half of the sector's workforce, are expected to benefit from a direct pay rise due to the increases in the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage in April 2025.

The Government is also creating a fairer business rates system, which will further benefit the hair salon industry.