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Local Government: Employers' Contributions

Asked by Blake StephensonConservativeMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled Answered 19 February 2025UIN 30736

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25793 on Local Government: Employers' Contribution, what methodology her Department used to determine that £515 million of additional support would be required.

Answered by Jim McMahon

Additional funding for employer NICs has been determined based on a national assessment of the costs for directly employed staff. The grant distribution methodology has been published in an explanatory note on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-explanatory-note-on-the-employer-national-insurance-contribution-grant-2025-to-2026.

We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. That is why the government is providing an additional £2 billion of grant funding through the Settlement, which includes £502 million of additional grant funding to manage the impact of employer National Insurance Contributions changes on council budgets, and £13 million for combined authorities, totalling £515 million. The final Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.

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