SOCIAL care providers have been talking to Newton Abbot MP Martin Wrigley about how the new National Insurance contributions will have an effect,

Mr Wrigley was invited to take part in a podcast Who Care? hosted by John Powell at Unicare.

The meeting was to discuss with social care providers how the how the Government’s planned increase in Employer National Insurance contributions and lowering of the NI threshold is affecting social care organisations in his constituency.

So far Martin has met with Dominic Spayne, Chief Executive of Shared Lives Southwest; Rachel Hardy from Advance Support and Enabling Services; Jamie Theobald of Step One Services Ltd and representatives from Devon Care Homes Consortium including Geoffrey Cox, CEO of Southern Healthcare.

Martin said: ‘It’s been good to meet with these local businesses that provide essential care services to the community.

‘The Shared Lives service model provides long-term placements, helps people learn skills and promotes independence in the community.’

He heard that the message coming from all care providers is that the National Minimum Wage and National Insurance changes are cause for alarm.

The National Minimum Wage has increased over 37.4per cent between April 2021 and April 2025, but funding and fee rates have not kept pace with that in this sector.

And the announcement of changes to National Insurance contributions for employers adds another layer of concern into the mix and compounds this problem.

Mr Wrigley said: ’While we all understand that budgets are tight, this funding crisis is not something we can continue to ignore and puts small businesses who really ‘Care’ at risk.’