§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish his latest estimates of the numbers of employees who will cease to qualify for the higher rate of statutory sick pay as a result of the recently announced changes to the scheme; and if he will show a breakdown of the figures for male and female employees.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardAbout 1.9 million employees with earnings between £90 and £125 per week will no longer be eligible for the higher rate of statutory sick pay (SSP) if they fall sick on or after 6 April 1990. But the number of spells of sickness where the amount of SSP entitlement will be reduced will, of course, be much smaller; it is estimated to be about 290,000 out of an annual total of 5.8 million.
It is estimated that about three quarters of those affected will be women. For the majority of employees occupational sick pay will make up any difference in SSP entitlement. All employees already receiving the higher rate of SSP at 6 April 1990 will continue to receive that rate until their current period of entitlement ends, regardless of their earnings.
Of those currently eligible only for the lower rate of SSP, the majority are women in low paid or part-time employment. Such employees are generally less likely to be covered by occupational sick pay schemes, and will thus gain from the real increase which is being made to the lower rate as part of the overall SSP re-structuring. As my right hon. Friend said in his uprating statement, since the flat rate element of statutory maternity pay is the same as this rate of SSP, there will also be a modest gain for up to 230,000 women in this respect.