Mr. Bob Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give details of companies in the Wolverhampton area which have failed to pass on to his Department national insurance contributions which have been deducted from employees' wages.
§ Mr. MajorNo detailed list of these companies is held by the Department of Health and Social Security. The initial responsibility for collection of national insurance contribution rests with the Inland Revenue.
Mr. Bob Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what action is taken by his Department to ensure that people are not denied their entitlement to unemployment benefit, maternity benefit or other benefits related to their national insurance contributions, by the failure of their employers to pass on to the revenue the national insurance contributions they have deducted from their employees' wages.
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§ Mr. MajorWhere payment to the Revenue is so delayed as to affect benefit, regulations deem the contributions to have been paid for benefit purposes where the Department is satisfied that the failure to pay was not with the consent or connivance of, or attributable to any negligence on the part of, the employee.
§ Mr. Frank Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list for each year since 1978–79 changes in the contribution rates for both employee and employer
Year National Insurance contribution rates (per cent.) Change—all funds (per cent.) Date change effective Revenue raised (£ million—estimate) Employee Employer Employee Employer Employee Employer 1979–80 6.50 13.5 — — — — — 1980–81 6.75 13.7 +0.25 +0.2 6 April 1980 +230 +200 1981–82 7.75 13.7 +1.00 no change 6 April 1981 +1,000 — 1982–83 8.75 13.7 +1.00 no change 6 April 1982 +1,090 — 1982–83 8.75 12.2 no change -1.5 2 August 1982 — -1,150 1982–83 — — — — (see Note 1) — -600 1983–84 9.00 11.95 +0.25 -0.25 6 April 1983 +290 -310 1983–84 9.00 11.45 no change -0.5 1 August 1983 — -410 1984–85 9.00 10.45 no change -1.0 1 October 1984 — -650 1985–86 5.00 5.00 -4.00 -5.45 6 October 1984 -140 — (see Note 2) 7.00 7.00 -2.00 -3.45 9–00 9.00 no change -1.45 — 10.45 — no change Notes:
(1) In 1982–83 there was a special rebate on the National Insurance Surcharge (NIS) equivalent to a reduction to 2 per cent. over the whole year, but because this was concentrated in the last quarter it is not possible to give a simple figure for the rate changes.
(2) The rate payable on all earnings if weekly earnings (or equivalent) reach (a) but do not exceed (b) is at. follows:
NIC rate Earnings per cent. (a) £ (b) £ 5 35.50 54.99 7 55.00 89.99 9 90.00 129.99 10.45 130.00 * * Employers only: no upper limit. (3) The figures ignore both the changes in the earnings limits (except for the 1985–86 restructuring where the abolition of the employer's upper earnings limit has been allowed for), and also the effects of special NIS rates payable by local authorities.