Member

I have explained the pressures. Now let us look at the pernicious effects of the national insurance levy, which makes all those things worse and burdens the council tax payer, who has to fund all this out of already-taxed income. Let us get to the nub of the matter. The additional burden of national insurance contributions on councils’ own payroll is estimated to be £637 million for the directly employed staff, while indirect costs, increased through commissioned providers, will cost councils an extra £1.3 billion next year, including £637 million for adult social care.