§ Mr. Roperasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the additional revenue, on the same assumptions as used in Command Paper No. 5116, of continuing national insurance contributions at the 5½ per cent. rate right across the income distribution instead of imposing a ceiling at one and a half times average earnings.
§ Mr. DeanThe contribution rates in the Social Security Act 1973 are 5.25 per cent. for employees and 7.5 per cent. for employers, payable on earnings up to approximately one and a half times the national average. On the basis used in the Government Actuary's Report on the Social Security Bill 1972 (Cmnd. 5143), which was in terms of earnings in October 1972, the extra yield from levying contributions on all earnings would be about £240 million a year. Of this about £220 million would be for the National Insurance Fund—about £90 million payable by employees, about £130 million payable by employers.