Give young people a first rung on the ladder Doncaster Chamber tells Chancellor

Doncaster Chamber is calling on Chancellor John Healey to use his first Budget to reverse the damaging impact that rising employment costs are having on opportunities for young people.

The Chamber has joined the wider British Chambers of Commerce network in submitting proposals ahead of the Budget on 28 October. At the heart of its submission is a call to reduce employer National Insurance contributions for workers aged under 25.

The request comes amid mounting concern about youth unemployment nationally and an especially acute challenge in Doncaster.

In August, 1,960 Doncaster residents aged 18–24 were claiming unemployment-related benefits, equivalent to 9.2% of the local population in that age group. This was substantially higher than the Yorkshire and Humber rate of 6.6% and the Great Britain average of 5.9%.  The position was even more pronounced among 18–21-year-olds, with Doncaster’s claimant rate standing at 11.3%, compared with 6.4% nationally.

Doncaster Chamber argues that few business leaders will be surprised by this gloomy picture.

The autumn 2024 Budget increased employer National Insurance contributions and significantly lowered the earnings threshold at which employers begin paying them. This was followed in April 2025 by substantial increases in statutory wage rates, including a rise in the minimum wage for 18–20-year-olds and increases in the apprentice rate.

While higher wages are intended to support living standards, the Chamber believes the combined effect of these measures made it substantially more expensive, and therefore riskier, for employers to recruit younger and less experienced workers.

That assessment is supported by the latest South Yorkshire Quarterly Economic Survey, which attracted responses from 407 businesses.  The results show that employers still want to recruit, with 61% having attempted to take on staff during the previous three months. However, almost three in ten, 29%, said recent minimum-wage increases for young people had reduced their willingness to employ them. Similarly, one-third expected higher apprentice wage rates to result in reduced apprentice recruitment.

Alongside action on youth employment, the Chamber network is asking the Chancellor to:

• Introduce a targeted but meaningful package to reduce the cost of doing business, including further business-rates relief for high streets and action on business energy costs.
• Strengthen support for exporters, including resources for regions such as South Yorkshire to undertake more international trade missions.
• Maintain long-term investment in skills and infrastructure, including projects capable of unlocking wider private-sector growth.

For Doncaster, this should include helping businesses maximise the trade and investment opportunities created by the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

Dan Fell MBE, Chief Executive of Doncaster Chamber, said:

“Doncaster’s youth unemployment figures should concern us all. The proportion of our 18–24-year-olds claiming unemployment-related benefits is more than half as high again as the national average. Among those aged 18–21, the gap is wider still.

“Few in business will be surprised that youth unemployment has risen since the autumn 2024 Budget. Employers were hit simultaneously by higher National Insurance contributions, a lower payment threshold and steep increases in statutory wage rates. However well-intentioned individual measures may have been, their combined effect was to make employing people substantially more expensive.

“Businesses want to give young people their first opportunity. Our research shows that employers are still trying to recruit, but almost three in ten say rising wage costs have reduced their willingness to employ younger workers.

“This is especially frustrating because we are seeing Doncaster’s schools and colleges place a welcome emphasis on work readiness. They deserve credit for listening to employers and helping young people develop the skills, behaviours and confidence they will need in the workplace.

“Schools and colleges are doing their bit, and businesses want to do theirs. Government now needs to play its part by making it affordable to employ young people.

“John Healey knows this region and understands what our wealth creators are up against. His first Budget provides an opportunity to give employers the confidence to create apprenticeships, entry-level positions, and stepping-stone jobs.

“Reducing employer National Insurance contributions for under-25s would be a practical, targeted intervention. It would help our businesses recruit and give more young people that vital first rung on the ladder.”

On behalf of Doncaster and wider Chamber network, the British Chambers of Commerce has described its central test for the Budget as whether it reduces business costs and restores the confidence firms need to invest, recruit and trade.