HC Deb 09 February 2000 vol 344 cc209-10W
Mr. Willetts

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people have paid both Class 1 and Class 2 National Insurance contributions towards SERPS in the last full year for which figures are available. [108004]

Mr. Rooker

Around 275,000 people accrued entitlement to additional pension under SERPS as a result of paying a combination of Class 1 and Class 2 contributions in 1996–97, the latest year for which figures are available.1 Assuming a similar number for the current year, we estimate that some 68,000 of these individuals may be affected by our proposals to base entitlement to the State Second Pension solely on Class 1 contributions. While we have no information about the level of their earnings from self-employment, we estimate that 18,000 of these will have Class 1 earnings in excess of £18,000.

Source:

1 Lifetime Labour Market Database