To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the net additional cost to local authorities of the changes to employers' national insurance contributions and reimbursement announced in the autumn statement.

We do not collect the data which would enable us to predict with any accuracy the extent to which the changes in the level of statutory sick pay reimbursement and reductions in employers' national insurance contributions will cancel each other out for individual authorities. However, the reduction in reimbursements of statutory sick pay represents less than 0·1 per cent. of the total of employers' labour costs.