Bromsgrove and the Villages MP Bradley Thomas has called on the Government to halve employer National Insurance for young workers, claiming one in nine young people in his constituency are on out of work benefits.
The Conservative MP is urging the Chancellor to act on what he describes as a “youth jobs emergency” when John Healey delivers his first Budget on Wednesday 28 October.
Mr Thomas is backing Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s plan to cut employer National Insurance for workers aged 21 to 24. The party announced the pledge during its conference in Birmingham earlier this month, saying the rate for that age group would fall from 15% to 7.5% at an estimated cost of £2.3 billion.
The wider Conservative package also includes:
- A “Get to Work” scheme intended to stop school leavers moving straight onto benefits, with support to find employment
- 100,000 new apprenticeships
- Cutting red tape around summer jobs and weekend work
- Scrapping business rates for 250,000 businesses
Mr Thomas argues that the rise in employer National Insurance, changes to business rates and the Employment Rights Act have made it more expensive for firms to take on young staff.
Bradley said: “Under this Government one in nine young people here in Bromsgrove and the Villages are on out of work benefits.
“The Government’s policies have piled costs and regulations on our local businesses – who tell me they can’t afford to hire young people. This Government risks creating a lost generation.
“Instead of trying to tax and spend their way out of a crisis of their own making, the Government should get behind Kemi’s plan to cut costs for businesses and make it cheaper to hire young people – helping them get their first step on the career ladder.”
Responding to the Conservative pledge, Labour said the previous Conservative government had allowed nearly one million young people to be locked out of work or training.
When Mr Thomas raised youth unemployment in the Commons in June, Treasury minister Torsten Bell said the Government had committed £2.5 billion over three years to its youth guarantee, which it says will deliver up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.
