§ 51. Mr. W. Hamiltonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the total income from the National Health part of the National Insurance contribution in England and Wales and Scotland. respectively, in each of the last 10 years.
§ The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Anthony Barber)As the reply contains a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. HamiltonCould the Financial Secretary give the first and last figures. please?
§ Mr. BarberYes. The first figure for England and Wales is £36.3 million. The last figure is £145 milion. For Scotland the two comparable figures are f4.1 million and £16 million. Perhaps I should also mention that the contribution is expected to yield £161 million gross in 1962–63 towards the Health Service which is expected to cost £878 million excluding local authority expenditure.
§ Mr. HamiltonCan the hon. Gentleman say how much of this is used to relieve the Surtax payer?
§ Mr. BarberI hardly think that is a relevant question.
Following is the reply:The following table shows for the last 10 years the total income from the National Health element in National Insurance contributions up to September, 1957 and the yield of the National Health Service contribution then established up to the last financial year.
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CONTRIBUTIONS Financial Year England and Wales* Scotland £m. £m. 1953–54 36.3 4.1 1954–55 36.2 4.1 1955–56 36.3 4.1 1956–57 36.6 4.2 1957–58† 57.4 6.4 1958–59‡ 93.0 10.3 1959–60 100.3 11.1 1960–61 103.6 11.5 1961–62§ 132.1 14.7 1962–63 (Estimated) 145.0 16.0 Footnotes: * Separate figures for England and for Wales are not available. † Contribution rates increased from 2nd September, 1957. ‡ Contribution rates increased from 7th July, 1958. § Contribution rates increased from 3rd July, 1961.