Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the cost of hiring new teachers due to changes in employer National Insurance contributions for schools in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.

The increase in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) costs was taken into account when calculating the additional funding the department is providing to support schools with the 2025 pay awards in the financial year 2025/26. Schools in Lancashire will be receiving £16.6 million to support them with their NICs costs and the department will publish allocations for the pay grant in the autumn. From 2026/27, funding in respect of NICs costs will be incorporated into schools’ core budgets through the national funding formula.