§ Mr. Formanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether any changes are proposed in the levels of the administrative tolerances applied by his Department in connection with the collection and recording of national insurance contributions which may affect legal entitlements.
§ Mrs. ChalkerWhere deduction documents are received showing insufficient details for the individual employee's record to be traced using computer techniques alone, no further action is taken if the employee's contributions do not exceed a certain figure. As explained in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Mr. Aspinwall) on 23 May 1980—[Vol. 985, c.464–66]—this figure is at present the same as the weekly lower earnings limit for class 1 liability, currently £23. In the tax year beginning April 1981, and in subsequent years, the figure will be set at twice the weekly lower earnings limit for the year—£54 in 1981–82. We feel able 124W to make this change because entitlement to earnings-related supplement will no longer be affected. The contributions will continue to be kept on a file until information is received which enables them to be allocated to the correct record, but, if this does not happen, some benefit may be lost. Employees can protect their position by ensuring that their employer knows their correct national insurance number and notifying the Department of a change of name, in particular on marriage.
As a further staff economy, with effect from April 1981 the Department will not invite claims for refunds of contributions found to have been paid in error, or collect underpayments, unless the amounts exceed a figure of half the year's weekly lower earnings limit. This means that the current tolerance of £10 will be raised to £13.50 for the 1981–82 tax year.