Written questions by Johnson.

Pursuant to the Answers of 4 and 11 November to Questions 11939 and 12740 on Ministry of Defence: Employers' Contributions, what estimate he has made of the indirect costs to his Department following the proposed increase in employer national insurance contributions on suppliers and contractors that support his Department.

As individual suppliers and contractors will manage the increase differently, it is not possible for the Department to estimate the indirect costs relating to the change in Employer National Insurance Contributions.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 11938 on NHS: Employers' Contributions, whether he has made a estimate of the cost of changes to national insurance contributions announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 to (a) his Department, (b) NHSE, (c) general practices, (d) hospices, (e) charities delivering healthcare, (f) social care providers, (g) care homes, (h) air ambulance service providers, (i) each acute trust's direct costs, (j) each acute trusts indirect costs, (k) dental clinics providing NHS care, (l) opticians providing NHS appointments, (m) private healthcare providers providing NHS appointments or operations, (n) each mental health trust, (o) each ICB, (p) the cost of agency nursing staff, (q) the cost of locum doctors, (r) local pharmacies and (s) NHS suppliers and contractors.

We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget. This has enabled a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The Government is also providing at least £600 million of new grant funding for social care in 2025/26, as part of the broader estimated real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of around 3.2%.The rise will be implemented from April 2025, and the Department will set out further details on allocation of funding for next year in due course, taking employer National Insurance contributions into account. The information requested is not available centrally, as the range of organisations and individuals being asked about have very different contractual relationships with the Department, NHS England, local integrated care boards and National Health Service providers.

With reference to paragraph 2.40 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the increase in the rate of employer National Insurance Contributions on the New Hospitals Programme.

The Autumn Budget Statement announced by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 30 October set out that we would continue to deliver the New Hospital Programme by placing it on a more sustainable and deliverable footing.We expect that the potential impact of Employer National Insurance Contributions to individual schemes in the New Hospital Programme will be covered through the individual Full Business Cases submitted by the trusts, where the final costs will be reviewed through the business case process.

How many adults have received the respiratory syncytial virus vaccination in each month since July 2024.

The UK Health Security Agency measures the coverage of vaccines against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The RSV adult vaccination programme in England began on 1 September 2024. Only data for the catch-up cohort, those adults aged 75 to 79 years old before the programme start date, has been published. This publication covers the first full month of the programme, and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-protection-report-volume-18-2024/hpr-volume-18-issue-9-news-31-octoberDuring the reporting period, from 1 to 30 September 2024, the total vaccination uptake among the catch-up cohort was 22.6%. Data for the routine cohort, those adults turning 75 years old from the programme start date, will be published in an annual RSV report in due course. NHS England publishes weekly data by region on the RSV vaccines administered, which offers further insight into the progress of the vaccination programme. The weekly data on vaccines administered is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/vaccinations

How much funding she has budgeted (a) overall and (b) for each Department to reimburse them for the increased costs they incur from the rise in employers national insurance contributions.

The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way.This is in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.As set out in the Autumn Budget, the Government has set aside £4.7 billion in 2025-26 and plans to update Parliament on allocations by department in the usual way as soon as possible.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11939 on Ministry of Defence: Employers' Contributions, whether the £216 million figure given is the (a) direct cost of his Department’s Ministry of Defence: Employers' Contributions national insurance contribution, (b) indirect cost to his department of higher contributions by suppliers and contractors and (c) total of direct and indirect costs.

The £216 million Employers' National Insurance cost provided in the previous answer is the estimated direct cost to the Department.

What estimate he has made of the increase in (a) direct and (b) indirect costs to his Department of the 1.2% rise in employer national insurance contributions announced in the budget.

The changes to employer national insurance contributions from April are expected to increase Departmental costs c.£216million in financial year 2025-26. The Chancellor has agreed to provide funding to the public sector to support with the cost of employer national insurance contributions, which will be confirmed at a future date.

With reference to paragraph 2.40 of the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, published on 30 October 2024, what estimate he has made of the increased cost to the NHS (a) directly and (b) indirectly of the increase in employer national insurance contributions.

We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget, this enabled the SR settlement of £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department of Health and Social Care from 2023-24 outturn to 2025-26.The Employer National Insurance rise will be implemented April 2025, the Department of health and Social Care will set out further details on allocation of funding for next year in due course.

What estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS that would be incurred by an (a) 1% and (b) 2% rise in the rate of employers national insurance contributions.

We do not comment on speculation around hypothetical situations. Any decisions that could be taken on National Health Service budgets for future years will be announced at fiscal events, including the Spending Review.

How many (a) adults and (b) children have (i) applied for and (ii) been found eligible to relocate and settle permanently in the UK under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 1 Stage 2: Separated Families.

The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help at-risk people in Afghanistan and, so far, we have brought around 32,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes. We continue to honour our commitments to bring eligible Afghans to the UK.The window to submit an expression of interest under ACRS Pathway 1 Stage 2: Separated Families was opened on 30 July 2024. This will remain open until 30 October 2024.Those who have been resettled in the UK under Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 1 and were evacuated during Operation Pitting without their immediate family members can submit an expression of interest under this pathway.Further information is viewable at: Afghan citizens resettlement scheme: Separated Families Pathway - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).Data on the number of individuals relocated under this Pathway will be included in future additions of Afghan Operational data. Data on eligibility considerations will not be published. Work is ongoing to consider the expressions of interest submitted thus far as quickly as possible.

If she will make an estimate of the number of pensioners who have an annual income that is (i) lower and (ii) higher than (a) £23,795.20, (b) £12,570, (c) £50,271, (d) £125,140, (e) £60,000, (f) £70,000 and (g) £24,000.

These estimates are provided at a pensioner unit level. The estimated number of pensioner units with the gross annual incomes specified are stated in the following text. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 and then displayed in millions. Individual figures have been rounded independently, so figures may not sum due to rounding. (a) (i) lower than £23,795.20 – 4.1m, (ii) higher than £23,795.20 – 4.6m(b) (i) lower than £12,570 – 1.0m, (ii) higher than £12,570 – 7.7m(c) (i) lower than £50,271 – 7.4m, (ii) higher than £50,271 – 1.2m(d) (i) lower than £125,140 – 8.5m, (ii) higher than £125,140 – 0.2m(e) (i) lower than £60,000 – 7.9m, (ii) higher than £60,000 – 0.8m(f) (i) lower than £70,000 – 8.2m, (ii) higher than £70,000 – 0.5m(g) (i) lower than £24,000 – 4.2m, (ii) higher than £24,000 – 4.5m These estimates are based on Pensioners’ Incomes data derived from the Family Resources Survey and cover private householders in the United Kingdom and the financial year 2022/23. A pensioner unit can be a single pensioner over State Pension age, a pensioner couple where one member is over State Pension age, or a pensioner couple where both members are over State Pension age.

What discussions he has had with stakeholders on access to the RSV vaccination for people over 80.

There is currently no advice on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination for those aged over 80 years old to discuss with stakeholders. The Department accepted the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI is not a stakeholder but the independent expert committee that advises the Government on matters to do with immunisation.In June 2023, the JCVI advised an RSV immunisation programme for older adults aged 75 years old and above. The committee suggested an initial programme to potentially vaccinate a cohort aged from 75 to 80 years old, and then for those turning 75 years old in subsequent years, and this is the current policy for the programme. In the JCVI’s statement summarising the advice for the RSV programme, the committee stated that an extension to the initial programme would be considered when there is more certainty about protection in the very elderly and the real-world impact of the programme in 75 to 80 year olds.In line with JCVI advice, RSV vaccination programmes to protect older adults and newborn babies, via maternal vaccination, began on 1 September 2024 in England. The Department will consider any further JCVI advice on who should be offered an RSV immunisation as the committee continues to keep the evidence under review.