§ Mr. Frank Cookasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many instances have been recorded of employers' failure to pay national insurance contributions in full or in part (a) as a total nationally, (b) in the north-east of England, (c) within Cleveland
Action in respect of employers who have failed to pay N.I. contributions Number of employers prosecuted Number of employers sued Number of employers where arrears were written off Great Britain:— April 1983 to April 1984 1,971 2,080 4,990 April 1984 to April 1985 1,326 1,570 6,310 April 1985 to April 1986 13 1,259 4,652 North East Region:— April 1983 to April 1984 437 344 522 April 1984 to April 1985 235 145 469 April 1985 to April 1986 Nil 120 470
Numbers of employers who became insolvent owing arrears of N.I. contributions Company liquidations Personal bankruptcies April 1983 to April 1984 13,716 1,435 April 1984 to April 1985 13,980 1,876 April 1985 to April 1986 14,042 1,846 Note: No separate figures are available for the north east.
Number of employers involved in Inland Revenue actions to obtain payment of employees' N.I. contributions Number November 1982 to November 1983 20,808 November 1983 to November 1984 22,642 November 1984 to November 1985 22,287 Note:No separate figures are available for the north east.
Notes:
(a) The marked reduction in the numbers of employers prosecuted in 1985–86 was due to the announcement on 12 November 1984 of the intention to repeal section 152(4) of the Social Security Act 1975. Previously a criminal conviction was sought under that section against a limited liability company before proceeding against the directors personally for recovery of outstanding arrears of NI contributions. The announcement resulted in the cessation of criminal proceedings under that section.
(b) Under section 152(4) (now repealed), the same employer will often have been both prosecuted and sued. The sum of the two figures does not therefore represent the number of employers involved.
(c) Some of the insolvent employers will be also included in the prosecution or civil action figures, because civil proceedings can result in petitions to make an employer insolvent, and most section 152(4) proceedings were instituted against limited companies in liquidation.
(d) The Inland Revenue initiate action against employers to recover unpaid NI contributions but if they are unsuccessful they transfer the outstanding debt to my Department for continuing action. Therefore the figures of Inland Revenue actions will include some employers included in the figures in the first two tables.