The partial reversal of the planned NIC rise is a welcome relief, according to Paul Venables, group finance director at Hays.

Following the partial reversal of the 1% increase proposed by the previous Labour government for next year, announced in this week’s Queen speech, Venables says: “We were relieved to see that yesterday’s Queen’s speech included a reversal in part of the planned increase in National Insurance Contributions (NICs).

“As we said in our Manifesto for Employment, an increase in NICs on employers is in effect a tax on jobs and with the economic recovery as fragile as it is, the last thing we need for business is any further financial burden related to the costs of employment which might deter employers from taking on new staff.”