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12 Nov 2026

Wales is investing £4.5 million in cycling tourism ahead of the Tour de France Grand Départ in 2027, with funding supporting cycling hubs, bike hire, trail...

11 Nov 2026

New powers to give local leaders greater control over shared e-bike schemes, including tackling nuisance parking and antisocial behaviour, are among a number of proposed...

10 Nov 2026

The ACT and Cytech joined industry experts for a NextGen Mechanics webinar exploring Europe’s bicycle mechanic skills shortage and the work under way to strengthen...

6 Nov 2026

ACT has published guidance for retailers following SRAM’s stop-sale and stop-ride notice affecting certain RockShox ZEB forks.

3 Nov 2026

Independent retailers must keep evolving and innovating to survive and thrive, according to the former president of ACT parent company Bira.
 

29 Oct 2026

The E-Bike Summit will return to London on 26 April 2027, with the E-Bike Positive campaign, co-managed by the Association of Cycle Traders (ACT) and the Bicycle Association (BA), confirmed as a...

28 Oct 2026

Cytech technical three, the highest attainable qualification in professional cycle maintenance within the Cytech syllabus, is now available through training provider Life Cycle.

28 Oct 2026

ACT parent company, Bira's CEO Andrew Goodacre has hailed the Budget’s business rates announcements as a win for independent retailers.

27 Oct 2026

A new advice article from Cycling Electric editor Mark Sutton looks at the pitfalls consumers can face when buying an e-bike through mass online marketplaces such as...

27 Oct 2026

A leading criminologist has warned that shop thieves are now stealing to order, with demand for stolen goods driving the crime.

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National Insurance to increase through a health and social care levy

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News , Creative News, Outdoor News, Political News

The ParliamentPrime Minister has announced a new tax in the form of a Health and Social Care Levy.

From 1st April 2022, employer NICs will increase by 1.25 percentage points. Employee NICs will also increase by 1.25 percentage points, including for workers above state pension age.

It was also announced that self-employed Class 4 NICs will also increase - paid on annual profits beyond £9,569 and company dividend payments will rise from 7.5% to 8.75%.

The tax rise will raise £12bn, ringfenced to fund investment in health and social care. The investment will be spent on the following:

  • Tackling NHS Covid backlogs and cut waiting times with new £36 billion investment for health and social care
  • Responsible, fair, and necessary action taken to provide biggest catch-up programme in the history of the NHS and reform the adult social care system
  • NHS capacity to increase to 110% of planned activity levels by 2023/24, offering more appointments, treatments, and operations
  • Social care reform plan will end catastrophic costs for people across the country, and include extra investment in care sector to improve training and support
  • Funded by a new Health and Social Care Levy on working adults and an equivalent rise in the rates of dividend tax to make sure everyone pays their fair share
More information about the investment can be found here.


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