§ Mr. Kirkwoodasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will publish in the Official Report the latest information on the numbers of recorded cases of non-payment of national insurance contributions and the number of these cases in which the employer was fined for each year since 1978.
§ Dr. BoysonThe information is not available in the form requested. The Department's inspectors have recorded irregularities, underpayments, and late payments of national insurance contributions (NIC) during visits to business premises, as follows:
Number of irregularities, etc Period Employers Self-employed February 1978—may 1979 53,781 67,374 May 1979—may 1980 24,588 47,055 May 1980—april 1981 19,232 45,044 April 1981—february 1982 11,549 68,527 February 1982—april 1983 13,964 75,274 April 1983—december 1983(part-year only) 10,963 32,693 Note: The criteria for selection of visits and method of recording irregularities, underpayments and late payments of MC were altered in April 1981, August 1982 and April 1983 to improve effectiveness, so some figures are not comparable. The number of cases in which criminal proceedings have been taken for non-payment of MC is as follows:
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Period Fined Probation Conditional Discharge Absolute discharge or admonished A B A B A B A B February 1978—february 1979 111 9,529 — 2 7 54 172 69 February 1979—february 1980 69 8,890 — — 8 41 170 58 February 1980—february 1981 100 7,749 — 1 14 24 201 44 February 1981—february 1982 136 8,877 — — 8 60 347 72 February 1982—april 1983 264 11,998 1 3 25 100 813 134 April 1983—december 1983 (part year only) 174 10,920 — 16 23 100 937 100 A: Employers B: Self-employed Note: The Inland Revenue is responsible in the first instance for collection of NIC from employers. Only where this proves unsuccessful does the debt pass to DHSS to enforce. Employers against who DHSS take criminal proceedings are usually companies in liquidation or receivership. As the company is unable to pay a fine, most courts give an absolute discharge or impose only a nominal fine. The proceedings are nevertheless needed as a prerequisite to the Department taking action to recover the MC debts from the company directors.