§ Mr. Paul Deanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what will be the rates of national insurance contributions
Employer Employee (standard rate) Employee (married women opting out of standard rate) Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Civil Service, NHS and local government … 8.75 5.75 2.0 Armed Forces … 7.4 4.95 1.8 The percentage contributions for the Civil Service, NHS and local government are the same as those for the main body of contributors. The contributions paid by the Armed Forces are lower, and do not give title to sickness, unemployment or industrial injury benefits while in the Services.
There are no arrangements whereby national insurance benefits themselves are subject to reduction in respect of any employer's sick pay or occupational pension arrangements. Employers, however, often take account of benefits which may be payable when devising such arrangements. The bulk of NHS superannuation scheme contributors—broadly, people who joined after 5th July 1948-have their NHS pension reduced to take account of the national insurance flat-rate retirement pension. The reduction, which applies from State pension age, is £1.70 for each year of contributing service under the NHS scheme, subject to a maximum reduction of £67.75 a year. A similar provision applies to the principal Civil Service and Armed Forces pensions schemes.
Where NHS employees are on sick leave or maternity leave they claim national insurance benefits in the normal way, and adjustments to salary are made in order to provide payments in accordance with negotiated conditions of service
456Wfrom April 1977 for employers and employees in the Civil Service, the Armed Forces, the National Health Service and local government; and what arrangements exist for deductions from national insurance benefits in respect of these employees.
§ Mr. Orme, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 13th January 1977; Vol. 923, c. 589], gave the following information:
From 6th April 1977 the rates of national insurance contributions for employers and employees in the Civil Service, the Armed Forces, the National Health Service and local government will be as follows:
Most civil servants sign an undertaking not to claim short-term national insurance benefits, and in return may receive full pay in certain circumstances when off sick or on maternity leave. The arrangements for local government employees are a matter for the local government negotiating bodies and the local authority associations, as appropriate, to determine; I regret that I have no information about these arrangements.