Victoria Collins MP uses PMQ to Press Prime Minister to Scrap National Insurance Hike

At (8 January) Prime Minister’s Questions, Victoria Collins MP for Harpenden and Berkhamsted pressed the Prime Minister to exempt health and social care providers, including GPs, from his government’s planned hike to employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs).

She continued raising how damaging this is expected to be for local businesses, charities and notably health and social care providers such as GPs in Harpenden and Berkhamsted, questioning the Prime Minister on when his government will finally heed such warnings and, at the very least, consider an exemption for health and care providers.

Since the Autumn Budget, Victoria has repeatedly stressed to the government how detrimental increasing NICs will be for key organisations at the heart of Harpenden and Berkhamsted - whether that’s vital health and care providers, charities supporting vulnerable residents, or small businesses enriching the local economy.

For local businesses, charities like the Hospice of St Francis, healthcare providers like the Elms Medical Practice GPs, and the many more that are already facing increasing running costs, this tax change will only add further pressures, bringing the possibility of closures, staff lay-offs and pauses on recruitment. This impact could be devastating for the local community, economy, and the ability for residents to access the medical treatment and care they need.

Victoria and her Liberal Democrat colleagues have been strongly urging the government to rethink this tax hike and consider fairer alternatives, and at the very least, to exempt health and care providers altogether. 

Today, Victoria continued these calls by asking the Prime Minister directly when he will recognise how damaging this measure could be, heed the warnings given and to finally commit to exempting health and care providers from it.

The question Victoria asked to the Prime Minister was as follows:

“Businesses such as Hicks in Harpenden, charities such as the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted, and health and social care providers such as the Elms medical practice in Harpenden, are among those up and down this country that are warning the Government about the negative impact of the proposed changes to national insurance contributions. When will the Prime Minister heed those warnings and, at the very least, look at exemptions for health and social care providers, as has been done for the NHS?”