§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the lower earnings limit(a) for crediting towards national insurance benefits and (b) for national insurance contribution payments (i) was in April 1997 and (ii) will be in April 2001; and if he will estimate for each local authority in Tyne and Wear the numbers of employees who will be credited with national insurance contributions, but not paying them in April 2001.[138332]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 14 November 2000]: I refer my hon. Friend to Inland Revenue press release "IR1—Income Tax Allowances and National Insurance Contributions".
I am afraid that it is not possible to provide a reliable estimate for the number of employees in Tyne and Wear who will be credited with national insurance contributions, but not paying them.
§ Mr. ClappisonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the annual additional revenue raised by his proposal in the762W pre-Budget Report to increase the upper limit on national insurance contributions for employed and self employed.[138622]
§ Dawn PrimaroloIn the March 1999 Budget the Chancellor announced a large reform of National Insurance and figures were given in table 1.3 of the "March 1999 Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report". These estimates were updated in the "March 2000 Financial Statement and Budget Report" appendix A2.