Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an estimate of the number of pubs that will close in (a) Leicester East and (b) the United Kingdom as a result of employer National Insurance contribution rises.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change. It means employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage without paying employer NICs.

Businesses will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under-21s and under-25 apprentices.