The education secretary Bridget Phillipson was responding to concerns raised by the newly appointed shadow education secretary, Laura Trott, and Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, Munira Wilson, within the House of Commons on the impact of the increases to National Insurance contributions for employers on early years providers and fears early years settings could pass on fee rises to parents.
Trott asked the education secretary if funding rates will reflect the changes. In response she repeated the amount of funding the Department for Education has already committed to to deliver on the expanded entitlement.
Replying to Liberal Democrat’s Munira Wilson she said, ‘We are looking in more detail at what the changes mean for providers in the early years sector. We will have more to say shortly. But of course, alongside changes that are taking place, we are also increasing the employment allowance to £10,500 and expanding this to all eligible employers. So smaller providers may not pay national insurance at all in 2025/26.’
