Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising the Employment Allowance in order to support small employers to offer (a) more roles and (b) higher wages.

The Government has no current plans to increase the Employment Allowance (EA). The EA has already been significantly increased since its introduction in 2014. In April 2020, the Government increased the EA from £3,000 to £4,000 and focused the relief on helping smaller businesses take on extra staff, fulfil their potential, and boost employment. This increase benefitted around 510,000 businesses, of which 65,000 businesses were estimated to be taken out of paying National Insurance contribution bills entirely.