Chancellor to raise National Insurance paid by employers, ITV News understands

The amount of national insurance paid by employers will be increased by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in next week’s budget, ITV News understands.
Contributions paid by workers are not expected to rise though – and it is understood that the money will not be taken from pension contributions.
The move is expected to be Labour’s biggest revenue raiser on budget day, collecting just shy of £20 billion – with other tax rises expected on capital gains tax and inheritance tax.
But, the government insists these will not be felt by “working people”.
Reeves is set to give the first Labour budget in 14 years on Wednesday. She will also cut back Right to Buy discounts as part of next week’s budget to boost council housing supply.
The Chancellor will announce plans to consult on a new five-year social housing rent settlement and to reduce Right to Buy, which allows tenants renting local authority-owned homes to buy them at a discounted rate, in order to protect existing council stock and keep council homes in the sector.
The moves are part of a housing package that includes £500 million in new funding for up to 5,000 new affordable social homes and £128 million to support delivering 33,000 new homes through projects across the country.
Reeves said: “We need to fix the housing crisis in this country. It’s created a generation locked out of the property market, torn apart communities and put the brakes on economic growth.
“We are rebuilding Britain by ramping up housebuilding and delivering the 1.5 million new homes we so badly need.”
The government will seek to cap what social housing providers can charge tenants in line with Consumer Price Index inflation plus 1%, launching a consultation on a five-year social housing rent settlement.
It also plans greater protections for newly-built social housing and to allow councils to keep 100% of the money raised from Right to Buy sales so they can build and buy more social housing.
The government will set out its housing strategy in the spring and details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 affordable homes programme will be set out in its spending review.
The £500 million top-up in funding for the affordable homes programme brings total investment in housing supply to more than £5 billion, the Treasury said.
The £128 million confirms funding to the following projects:
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