Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Employment Costs

Thursday 30 January 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial questions focused on employment costs and the impact of the Employment Rights Bill.
  • Jerome Mayhew questioned the Minister about steps to reduce employment costs and the CBI's concerns.
  • Andrew Griffith inquired about the economic impact of the Employment Rights Bill and costs on business.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jerome Mayhew Con Broadland and Fakenham
Economy Employment
Context

The question arises from concerns over rising employment costs due to government policies such as the Employment Rights Bill and national insurance tax, which have reportedly caused employers to consider layoffs and hiring freezes.

Question

What steps he plans to take to help reduce employment costs. The president of the Confederation of British Industry recently said that, because of things like the Employment Rights Bill, employers will be laying people off and will be less likely to employ, and that is before the national insurance tax on employment imposed by this Government. Does the Minister accept responsibility for the increase in unemployment that we are already seeing?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Justin Madders)

I think it is something of a stretch to say that a Bill that is not even law yet, most of the provisions of which will not come into force until next year, is driving unemployment already. I quote back to him what the head of the CBI said yesterday about our growth plan. He said: “This positive leadership and a…vision to kickstart the economy and boost productivity is welcome.”

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific issue of employment costs and increased unemployment was not directly addressed.

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Q2 Andrew Griffith Con Arundel and South Downs
Economy Employment
Context

The shadow Secretary of State questions the government's economic strategy, highlighting a contradiction between imposing additional costs on businesses and promoting economic growth.

Question

In the week of Labour’s latest reset, how does the Minister reconcile imposing an additional £5 billion of costs on business—on the Government’s own figures—with growing the economy? What was it about the breakfast with the Prime Minister that saw bosses laying off more workers 24 hours later?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Justin Madders)

We believe that a 0.4% increase in the overall pay bill, which is what we have estimated the Employment Rights Bill will mean for businesses, is actually a fantastic return for greater security at work, greater pay, better staff retention, increased productivity, making jobs more secure and family friendly, banning exploitative zero-hour contracts, supporting women in work in every stage of life, providing a genuine living wage, turning the page on industrial relations, and bringing an end to fire and rehire. This is a pro-business, pro-growth, pro-worker agenda from the Government, and we are determined to deliver it.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific issue of imposing additional costs on business was not directly addressed in relation to economic growth.

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