§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many people are in contracted out money purchase pension schemes that are owed backdated national insurance contribution rebates; [119941]
(2) how much money is owed in backdated national insurance contribution rebates to contracted out money purchase pension schemes; and what arrangements have been made to make these backdated payments. [119942]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answers 20 May 2000]: There are approximately 280,000 people awaiting rebates for the 1997–98 and the 1998–99 tax years. About £140 million of rebates remain to be paid. Rebates are outstanding because of problems with the NIRS2 system and errors in end of year returns. Inland Revenue's National Insurance Contributions Office is working closely with its IT suppliers to resolve outstanding difficulties with the NIRS2 system. They are also liaising with Scheme Administrators and employers to correct errors in end of year returns.
§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people paid(a) only class II National Insurance Contributions and (b) class II in addition to other National Insurance Contributions in each of the last 10 years; what revenue the Government received from class II National Insurance Contributions in each of these years; and if he will make a statement. [122521]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe number of people who paid National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in tax years 1978–79 to 1995–96, by type of contribution are shown384W in table 11 of the DSS publication "Contributions and Qualifying Years for Retirement Pension 1995–96 volume 2", a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Consistent data for 1996–97 are shown in the table.
Number of people—Great Britain Thousand Type of contribution: men and women 1996–97 Class 1 and class 2 352 Class 2 only 2,049 Combinations of class 1, 2 or 3 10 This information is based on the DSS Lifetime Labour Market Database (LLMDB) which uses a 1 per cent. sample of National Insurance records. I regret that the LLMDB does not collect information about class 4 and an analysis including class 4 would be available only at disproportionate cost.
However, in general terms, around three-quarters of those with a class 2 liability have profits greater than the lower profits limit and therefore should pay some class 4 contributions. This estimate is based on the Inland Revenue's Survey of Personal Incomes.
Class 2 contribution receipts for the years available are shown in the table:
£ million, at 1999–2000 prices1 Year Class 2 receipts for Great Britain 1990–91 660 1991–92 650 1992–93 680 1993–94 760 1994–95 760 1995–96 760 1996–97 770 1Using GDP deflator at market prices