![\"Rachel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773248651_510_rachel-reeves.jpg\")
<\/p>\nChancellor Rachel Reeves has acknowledged that critics have a “valid argument” against her decision to increase employers’ national insurance contributions while defending the policy as necessary to fund the NHS.<\/p>\n
Speaking before Parliament’s Treasury Committee on Wednesday, Ms Reeves accepted that the tax increase has attracted legitimate criticism from businesses and economists.<\/p>\n
The Chancellor said: “I do recognise, and it’s a valid argument to say that that should not have happened.<\/p>\n
“But if that didn’t happen, we wouldn’t have been able to put the money into the NHS and reduce waiting lists.”<\/p>\n
Ms Reeves said the measure, announced in her first Budget in 2024, was required to ensure public services received sufficient funding.<\/p>\n
She told MPs that the policy has helped deliver a \u00a329billion annual funding increase for the NHS.<\/p>\n
The Chancellor appeared before the committee against the backdrop of growing concerns about youth unemployment in the UK.<\/p>\n
Official statistics released last month showed the number of young people not in employment, education or training has risen close to one million.<\/p>\n
The policy delivered \u00a329billion extra funding for the NHS<\/p>\n
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GETTY<\/p>\n
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recorded 957,000 so-called NEETs aged 16 to 24 between October and December.<\/p>\n
That figure represents an increase from 946,000 in the previous quarter.<\/p>\n
Ms Reeves acknowledged the scale of the issue and told MPs that youth unemployment presents a particular challenge for the Government.<\/p>\n
She said: “I do recognise there are particular issues around youth unemployment.”<\/p>\n
![\"ONS\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ons.png\")
There are nearly a million people classed as NEETS<\/p>\n
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ONS<\/p>\n
However, the Chancellor said the current situation largely reflects trends that developed before the present Government took office.<\/p>\n
Ms Reeves said: “A lot of that, with respect, we inherited with a big increase in the young people not in education, employment or training.”<\/p>\n
The Government is planning several measures aimed at addressing the problem.<\/p>\n
Ms Reeves said new initiatives designed to support young people into work will begin next month.<\/p>\n
A central part of the strategy involves expanding apprenticeship opportunities targeted at younger workers.<\/p>\n
The Chancellor also highlighted the Government’s youth guarantee scheme.<\/p>\n
The programme promises guaranteed paid employment to eligible young people who have spent 18 months outside education or work.<\/p>\n
Ms Reeves said: “We are facing into that with actions coming on stream from next month.”<\/p>\n
The Chancellor argued that improvements in NHS performance could also have wider benefits for the labour market.<\/p>\n
She said: “Reducing waiting lists in the NHS is also good for business, because it means that more people are available for work, and the workforce is healthier.”<\/p>\n
![\"Business\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773248652_91_business.jpg\")
Businesses have expressed concerns over spiralling employment costs<\/p>\n
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GETTY<\/p>\n
Businesses have expressed concern about rising employment costs following the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions.<\/p>\n
Some firms have said the higher tax burden, combined with increases in the minimum wage, has led them to adopt a more cautious approach to recruitment.<\/p>\n
Separate figures published earlier in February by the ONS indicated broader pressure across the labour market.<\/p>\n
The data showed the UK’s unemployment rate reached 5.2 per cent during the three months to November.<\/p>\n
The figures highlight the challenge facing the Treasury as it attempts to fund public services while maintaining conditions that support job creation.<\/p>\n
Officials have said the Government will continue monitoring labour market trends as new employment measures are introduced in the coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chancellor Rachel Reeves has acknowledged that critics have a “valid argument” against her decision to increase employers’ national…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,1371,2222,229,1445,474,56,44208,54,55],"class_list":["post-469985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-jobs","tag-money","tag-politics","tag-rachel-reeves","tag-tax","tag-uk","tag-uk-politics","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}