§ 41. Sir B. Rhys Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will set an upper limit to the total amount of the Exchequer contributions to the National Insurance Fund in his proposals to reform national superannuation and social security.
§ Mr. EnnalsNo, Sir.
§ Sir B. Rhys WilliamsSo there is to be no upper limit to the amount which the taxpayer has to pay into National Insurance? Now that the Ministry has put the contribution on a graduated basis, what is the justification for keeping the taxation element in this system at all?
§ Mr. EnnalsThere will be no upper limit set, but the intention is, in the up-rating Bill at present in Committee, to retain the Exchequer contribution at roughly the same proportion as it has been for a number of years. Equally, the intention in the new long-term scheme for national superannuation is to keep the proportion roughly the same—at 18 per cent.—as part of the contribution towards the redistributive element within the new scheme.
§ Mr. Hugh JenkinsWould my hon. Friend not agree that there is a strong case for not decreasing but increasing the amount of contribution?
§ Mr. EnnalsOne would not want to increase it too high, because this is, after all, a contributory scheme. It is important that the contributory element should be maintained so that there is some relationship between the benefit which people receive and the contributions which they have paid.