Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions are they taking to support pubs, restaurants and cafes.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government recognises the vital contribution pubs, restaurants and cafés make to local communities and the wider economy. We are supporting the sector through a range of measures to ease cost pressures and promote long term resilience.
This includes permanently lowering business rates multipliers for eligible Retail, Hospitality and Leisure properties and we have also introduced a £4.3 billion business rates support package to protect ratepayers from increases following the revaluation. In addition, raising the Employment Allowance to £10,500 means around 865,000 employers will pay no National Insurance Contributions this year.
Furthermore, The Chancellor announced a new National Licensing Policy Framework as part of her budget. This sets out a vision for a proportionate licensing system that supports good businesses while continuing to tackle bad operators.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of jobs lost in the retail sector as a result of high street store closures; and what proportion of those losses they attribute to recent increases in employer National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Department recognises the pressures facing high streets and the implications for employment in the retail sector. Our Plan for Small and Medium Sized Businesses places high streets at the centre of economic renewal, supporting SMEs through improved finance access, reduced regulatory burdens and enhanced business support through the Business Growth Service.
The Government has not undertaken any modelling to evaluate the relationship between retail job losses and recent adjustments to employer National Insurance contributions or increases in the National Living Wage.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cumulative impact of business rates, employer National Insurance contributions, and wage regulation on the competitiveness of bricks-and-mortar retailers compared with online-only retailers.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Government works closely with the Retail Sector Council and industry bodies to help inform support for bricks and mortar businesses and ensuring a level playing field with online only retailers, including targeted reliefs and measures.
The government is introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties worth nearly £900 million per year, benefiting over 750,000 properties. To protect businesses from bill increases following the 2026 revaluation, a £4.3 billion support package is being implemented over three years.
Additionally, the retail sector will benefit from a rebalanced business rates system, with large distribution warehouses paying around £100 million more in 2026/27, with this funding directly lowering bills for in-person retail. The government has also launched a Small Business Plan aimed at removing barriers holding back businesses and breathing new life into high streets.
Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support high street retailers facing rising cost pressures, including increases in employer National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage; and what assessment they have made of the adequacy of existing support measures for preventing further store closures.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government is introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties worth nearly £900 million per year, benefiting over 750,000 properties. We are also implementing a £4.3 billion support package over three years to protect businesses from bill increases following the 2026 revaluation.
The Employment Allowance has more than doubled to £10,500, ensuring that over half of businesses with National Insurance liabilities will either gain or see no change this financial year. We also launched a Small Business Plan aimed at removing barriers holding back businesses and breathing new life into high streets.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps have been taken to help ensure that employers are aware of National Insurance relief available when hiring apprentices under the age of 25.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC maintains comprehensive GOV.UK guidance to help employers understand the Class 1 NICs relief for apprentices under the age of 25, which has been in place since 2016. It can be found here: Paying employer National Insurance contributions for apprentices under 25 - GOV.UK.
Beyond the NICs relief, the government is committed to supporting the employers of young Apprentices and at Budget 2025 announced a change to fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible people under 25.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Droitwich and Evesham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on jobs and employment on changes in regulation in the dairy sector, including through the proposed revisions to the Nutrient Profiling Model, the Soft Drinks Industry Levy proposed inclusion of dairy products, the increase to employer’s National Insurance contributions, and packaging taxes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) and National Insurance contributions are the responsibility of HM Treasury and packaging taxes fall under the remit of the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.
The Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) is under the remit of the Department of Health and Social Care. We are committed to updating the standards which underpin the advertising restrictions on television and online and the promotion restrictions in stores and their equivalent places online on ‘less healthy’ food and drink products. The NPM 2004/05 is plainly out of date and updating the standards will strengthen the restrictions by reflecting the latest dietary advice and more effectively target the products of most concern to childhood obesity. An impact assessment will be published alongside a consultation later this year.
It was announced at Budget 2025 that milk based and milk substitute drinks, for instance soya, almond, and/or oat, would be included in the scope of the SDIL from 1 January 2028. These reforms are not expected to have any significant macroeconomic impacts, including on employment, on the basis that the levy is limited to soft drinks, and an estimated 11% of United Kingdom soft drink sales will be affected. A full assessment of the impacts of these changes is included within the Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy – Summary of Responses document. This is available at the following link:
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the bill, containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions. 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 protected the smallest hospitality businesses from recent changes to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500.
The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs published the updated impact assessment of the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme in October 2024, which evaluated the overall effects on packaging producers, without disaggregating by sector.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the additional costs incurred by (a) each school in the Witham constituency and (b) across Essex, as a result of the increase in employers' National Insurance Contributions in (i) 2025/26 and (ii) 2026/27.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
School funding has increased by £3.7 billion in financial year 2025/26, meaning that core school budgets total £65.3 billion, compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25. This includes almost £1 billion in additional funding being provided to support schools and high needs settings, with the increases to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from April 2025.
Our funding system is not designed so that every school and college receives funding that fully matches their precise spending, as this, including the NICs costs, varies from institution to institution because of the decisions each takes on its staffing.
Through the dedicated schools grant, Essex, which allocates funding for Witham, is receiving £1.3 billion for mainstream schools in 2025/26. Essex will receive £6,128 per pupil on average, excluding growth and falling rolls funding.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of employers not providing the work guaranteed under a visa sponsorship agreement on migrant care workers; what steps her Department is taking to ensure that such workers are not disadvantaged as a result of sponsor non-compliance; and how any changes to settlement requirements, including the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain, will take account of individuals who have been unable to work or accrue National Insurance contributions due to circumstances beyond their control.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government is acutely aware of the levels of sponsor non-compliance in the care sector and this includes failing to provide adequate paid work. In response, we have revoked the licenses of more than 1000 care providers who are now no longer able to sponsor migrant workers.
The Home Office continues to work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) funded Regional Partnerships to support care workers, who have been impacted by exploitative employers. DHSC are funding 15 regional hubs in England, made up of Local Authorities and Directors of Adult Social Services, working together to support displaced workers into new roles within the care sector. These regional hubs have received £12.5 million this financial year to support them to prevent and respond to unethical practices in the sector.
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It also set out mandatory requirements for settlement, including a minimum level of National Insurance contributions. A public consultation was launched on 20 November 2025 and is open until 12 February 2026. The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the figures on local authority, fire and police core spending power include or exclude the grant funding to compensate local public bodies for the increase in National Insurance contributions for employees.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out at the 2026/27 provisional local government finance settlement, the £502 million Employer National Insurance Contributions Grant from 2025/26 will be consolidated into the Revenue Support Grant. As outlined in the explanatory note on Mayoral Strategic Authority funding existing Strategic Authorities will receive the Mayoral Capacity Fund in 2026/27, which takes account of their allocation from Employer National Insurance Contributions Grant from 2025/26.
Police authorities received funding for the increase in employee National Insurance Contributions separately.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has considered raising the employer National Insurance threshold for hospitality businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government increased the Employment Allowance for National Insurance contributions (NICs) from £5,000 to £10,500. Furthermore, businesses can claim employer NICs reliefs for employees under-21s and under-25 apprentices on earnings up to £50,270.
There are a wide range of factors to take into consideration when introducing or expanding a tax relief. These include how effective the relief would be at achieving the policy intent, how targeted support would be, whether it adds complexity to the tax system, and the cost.