Written questions by Bedford.

If she will take steps to support businesses in Mid Leicestershire constituency with changes to employer National Insurance contributions.

The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that next year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change. Businesses will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under-21s and under-25 apprentices.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the Protected Savings threshold from £85,000.

Deposits held by UK banks, building societies and credit unions that are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £85,000, with joint accounts protected up to £170,000. The PRA sets this limit and is required to review it every five years, with its next review due by 2025 at the latest. Any changes to the limit must be approved by HM Treasury and the government would expect to carefully consider any potential changes proposed by the PRA.

How many employee settlement agreements there were in her Department in each year since 2020; and what the total value of such agreements is.

In each year since 2020, HM Treasury signed zero settlement agreements.