§ Mrs. RocheTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer at what level the national insurance upper earnings limit would now be set had it increased at the same rate as the average earnings index since 1989; and what additional amounts in each year that would have raised.
§ Mr. HagueI have been asked to reply.
The upper earnings limit is statutorily linked to the level of the basic pension. If the limit had been raised instead in line with the increase in average earnings since 1989, and rounded to the nearest pound, it would now be £442. The additional amounts that would have been raised in each year are in the table:
Additional national insurance contributions raised Year (£ million) 1990–91 45 1991–92 10 1992–93 100 1993–94 140 1 In the year to September 1990 prices rose more than earnings, and the upper earnings limit would not have been higher in 1991–92.