Employer National Insurance contributions

That this House celebrates the small business owners of North East Hampshire constituency, including hairdressers, garages, care homes, pubs, garden centres and beauty salons, for their entrepreneurship, resilience and dedication to their trade, and recognises small businesses as the true backbone of communities; expresses concern over the impact of changes to National Insurance Contributions on small businesses, social care providers and GPs in North East Hampshire and across the country; notes that staffing costs represent a far greater share of expenditure for labour-intensive small businesses than for other businesses, meaning this increase hits them disproportionately hard; further notes that this impact is compounded by high energy costs and rises in business rates; also notes that the increase in NICs undermines any serious effort to tackle the NEETs crisis, revive high streets, or deliver sustainable growth; and calls on the Government to reverse the increase in employer NICs at the earliest opportunity, giving small businesses the certainty they need to invest, grow and create jobs.