§ Mr. Alan HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his latest estimate of the amount of national insurance contributions which have been unpaid during each of the last three years from(a) employers and (b) the self-employed. [34244]
§ Mr. HealdEstimates of the value of national insurance contributions unpaid by employers are available only for the 1992–93 and 1993–94 tax years. A random survey of employers known to the Contributions Agency estimated that underpayments of class 1 NIC for 1992–93 and 1993–94 were £111 million and £76 million respectively.
Self-employed contributors pay class 2 and class 4 contributions. Class 2 contributions are collected by direct debit payments or in response to the issue of quarterly bills. Estimates as to unpaid class 2 contributions could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Class 4 contributions are collected by the Inland Revenue, which draws up its accounts on the last Friday in October. For the years ended 1993 to 1995 the amounts of class 4 contributions1 uncollected and written off were:
- 1993: £66.7 million
- 1994: £52.8 million
- 1995: £34.5 million
Figures for class 4 contributions are for England and Wales and Scotland only.
§ Mr. HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in each year since 1989 have been in receipt of a national insurance credit for(a) incapacity, where no benefit is in payment, (b) unemployment, where no benefit is in payment, (c) people entitled to invalid care allowance, (d) people receiving statutory sick pay, (e) women receiving statutory maternity pay and (f) men aged between 60 and 64 years. [34275]
§ Mr. HealdThe information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.
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Table 1: Number1 of people claiming benefit due to medical incapacity (Sickness Benefit and Incapacity Benefit) and receiving National Insurance credits only (no benefit in payment) Total claimants (thousands) 1 April 19892 157 31 March 19902 205 30 March 19912 262 4 April 19922 320 3 April 19932 387 2 April 19941 440
Table 1: Number1 of people claiming benefit due to medical incapacity (Sickness Benefit and Incapacity Benefit) and receiving National Insurance credits only (no benefit in payment) Total claimants (thousands) 12 April 19952 512 29 February 19963 580 1 Point in time data—numbers are as at date shown. 2Source: 1 per cent, sample of all claims to Sickness Benefit in GB. 3Source: 5 per cent, sample of claims for Incapacity Benefit, excluding a small number of cases not held on the computer system.
Table 2: Number of unemployed claimants in receipt of National Insurance credits only Total claimants (thousands) May 1989 274 May 1990 220 May 1991 280 May 1992 313 May 1993 335 May 1994 281 May 1995 231 February 19962 229 Notes:
1 Point in time data—numbers relate to the position on the second Thursday of May of the relevant year and are the number of unemployed claimants not receiving Unemployment Benefit or Income Support. Figures include a small number who will not receive credits, but cannot be identified separately.
2 Data for February 1996 are the most recent available.
Source:
5 per cent. sample of unemployed claimants.
Table 3: Number of people receiving at least one credit in the financial year given: by type of credit Financial year ICA credits (thousands) Men aged between 60 and 64 (thousands) 1988–89 116 1,299 1989–90 129 1,311 1990–91 143 1,331 1991–92 174 1,348 1992–93 210 1,371 Source:
1 per cent. of NIRS (National Insurance Recording System) taken at February 1994.