Question
The changes to business rates announced in last week’s Budget will provide some much-needed breathing space for many businesses in Weston-super-Mare, Worle and the villages. However, thriving high streets and coastal communities such as mine depend on businesses being able to take on new staff, particularly local young people. At a roundtable I held with small businesses last week, the cost and difficulty of employing young people were raised repeatedly as a major concern. What more can the Treasury do to ease those financial pressures, and will the Minister provide more information about the new high streets strategy and how the Treasury will ensure that vision is matched with funding?
Answer
The Government want to support businesses in Weston-super-Mare and across the country to take on young people in particular, which is why our youth jobs grant offers businesses £3,000 for every young person they hire aged 18 to 24 who has been on universal credit and looking for work for six months. Businesses also benefit from targeted employer national insurance contribution reliefs for young people, meaning that employers pay no employer NICs on earnings up to just over £50,000 for employees up to the age of 21 and for apprentices under 25—a saving of nearly £7,000 per eligible employee per year.20% vibes
Verdict: RED (15/100)
The reply gives concrete, direct detail on existing support for employing young people, such as the £3,000 youth jobs grant and employer National Insurance relief. It does not say what further steps are planned, so the first question is only partly answered. It says nothing about the new high streets strategy or how Treasury funding would be aligned with it, so the second and third parts of the question go unanswered.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What further steps the Treasury can take to ease the financial pressures on businesses of employing young people. | Partially Addressed | Direct | The reply names concrete measures that ease the cost of employing young people (the £3,000 youth jobs grant, the employer NICs relief up to just over £50,000 with a saving of nearly £7,000 per eligible employee), but these are existing support rather than the 'further steps' the item asks about, and the reply never says what additional action is planned. |
| Information about the new high streets strategy. | Not Addressed | Generic | None of the answer statements mention the new high streets strategy or give any information about it; they all concern youth employment support. |
| How the Treasury will ensure that the vision in the new high streets strategy is matched with funding. | Not Addressed | Generic | The reply says nothing about the high streets strategy or about how Treasury funding would be aligned with its vision, so this item is left unanswered. |