asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the total amount collected in national insurance contributions from employees in each of the past 10 years; and what proportion this is of the amount collected from employers.
The information requested is as follows:
| National Insurance contributions from employees £ million | Employees' contributions as a proportion of employers' contributions Percentage | |
| 1966 | 690 | 81 |
| 1967 | 733 | 82 |
| 1968 | 832 | 81 |
| 1969 | 854 | 81 |
| 1970 | 1,043 | 84 |
| 1971 | 1,117 | 85 |
| 1972 | 1,345 | 86 |
| 1973 | 1,553 | 81 |
| 1974 | 1,862 | 70 |
| 1975 | 2,384 | 64 |
| The figures are on a United Kingdom basis. Industrial injuries contributions are included but not national health service, Redundancy Fund and selective employment tax payments. | ||
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the estimated percentage reduction in employers' national insurance contributions to compensate for the extra costs upon employers if they were responsible for the first month of sickness payments to their own employees.
If the National Insurance Fund did not pay sickness benefit in respect of days falling within the first four weeks of periods of interruption of employment and this saving on benefit expenditure were reflected in a reduced rate of national insurance contributions for employers, the employers' rate of contribution would be reduced from 8·75 percent to about 8·45 per cent.