Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many payments of statutory (1) maternity, (2) paternity, and (3) adoption, pay were reclaimed from His Majesty's Revenue and Customs at (a) the standard rate of 92 per cent, and (b) the Small Employers' Relief rate of 108.5 per cent, in each of the last 10 tax years.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Data for statutory payments for the financial year 2024-25 has not yet been fully analysed as the financial year has only recently ended. Data for financial years 2019-20 until 2023-24 is provided below. HMRC do not have data readily available for Statutory payments before 2019-20 and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

The tables below show the number of PAYE schemes claiming each statutory payment by tax year. Note that the scheme count for reclaims does not reflect the total number of reclaims, as schemes may submit multiple claims within a single tax year.

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.

3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes with reclaims, using schemes as a proxy for business count.

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.

3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes with reclaims, using schemes as a proxy for business count.

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.

3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes with reclaims, using schemes as a proxy for business count.

The data below summarises the total number of employers with Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) liabilities of £45,000 or less for the financial years 2022–23 to 2024–25. HMRC does not hold readily available data on the number of employers by the value of their total Employer NIC liabilities for years prior to 2022–23, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Notes:

1) Figures rounded to nearest thousand.

2) Figures include employers whose Employer NIC liabilities = £0

3) Figures exclude employers whose Employer NIC liabilities are unknown.

4) Data is RTI data matched to Business Lookup Table data.

The Small Employer’s Relief is a flat rate for all qualifying employers whose Employer National Insurance Contributions (Employer NICs) were £45,000 or under in the previous tax year.

The rate is split into two parts; 100% of the payment of Statutory Pay, plus an additional amount to cover the Employer NIC liabilities arising from the Statutory Pay.

It is calculated based on the rules for Statutory Maternity Pay, which makes up the majority of the claims received. Statutory Maternity Pay level is equal to 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, and the lower of £187.18 and 90% of average weekly earnings for the subsequent 33 weeks. [N.B. Taken from here: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/pay]

Prior to April 2025, the Small Employer’s Relief rate was 103%. From April 2025, Employer NICs is charged at a rate of 15% on earnings salary over £96 a week (equivalent to £5,000 a year). The 8.5% therefore reflects the value of Employer NICs at the current rate as a percentage of Statutory Maternity Pay over the 39 weeks the employee is eligible for.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of businesses who have class 1 National Insurance contributions of £45,000 or less in each of the past 10 tax years.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Data for statutory payments for the financial year 2024-25 has not yet been fully analysed as the financial year has only recently ended. Data for financial years 2019-20 until 2023-24 is provided below. HMRC do not have data readily available for Statutory payments before 2019-20 and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

The tables below show the number of PAYE schemes claiming each statutory payment by tax year. Note that the scheme count for reclaims does not reflect the total number of reclaims, as schemes may submit multiple claims within a single tax year.

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.

3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes with reclaims, using schemes as a proxy for business count.

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.

3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes with reclaims, using schemes as a proxy for business count.

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.

3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes with reclaims, using schemes as a proxy for business count.

The data below summarises the total number of employers with Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) liabilities of £45,000 or less for the financial years 2022–23 to 2024–25. HMRC does not hold readily available data on the number of employers by the value of their total Employer NIC liabilities for years prior to 2022–23, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Notes:

1) Figures rounded to nearest thousand.

2) Figures include employers whose Employer NIC liabilities = £0

3) Figures exclude employers whose Employer NIC liabilities are unknown.

4) Data is RTI data matched to Business Lookup Table data.

The Small Employer’s Relief is a flat rate for all qualifying employers whose Employer National Insurance Contributions (Employer NICs) were £45,000 or under in the previous tax year.

The rate is split into two parts; 100% of the payment of Statutory Pay, plus an additional amount to cover the Employer NIC liabilities arising from the Statutory Pay.

It is calculated based on the rules for Statutory Maternity Pay, which makes up the majority of the claims received. Statutory Maternity Pay level is equal to 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, and the lower of £187.18 and 90% of average weekly earnings for the subsequent 33 weeks. [N.B. Taken from here: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/pay]

Prior to April 2025, the Small Employer’s Relief rate was 103%. From April 2025, Employer NICs is charged at a rate of 15% on earnings salary over £96 a week (equivalent to £5,000 a year). The 8.5% therefore reflects the value of Employer NICs at the current rate as a percentage of Statutory Maternity Pay over the 39 weeks the employee is eligible for.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the specific figure of 108.5 per cent was decided upon for the rate at which Small Employers' Relief is paid.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Data for statutory payments for the financial year 2024-25 has not yet been fully analysed as the financial year has only recently ended. Data for financial years 2019-20 until 2023-24 is provided below. HMRC do not have data readily available for Statutory payments before 2019-20 and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

The tables below show the number of PAYE schemes claiming each statutory payment by tax year. Note that the scheme count for reclaims does not reflect the total number of reclaims, as schemes may submit multiple claims within a single tax year.

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.

3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes with reclaims, using schemes as a proxy for business count.

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.

3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes with reclaims, using schemes as a proxy for business count.

Notes:

1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.

2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.

3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes with reclaims, using schemes as a proxy for business count.

The data below summarises the total number of employers with Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) liabilities of £45,000 or less for the financial years 2022–23 to 2024–25. HMRC does not hold readily available data on the number of employers by the value of their total Employer NIC liabilities for years prior to 2022–23, and the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.

Notes:

1) Figures rounded to nearest thousand.

2) Figures include employers whose Employer NIC liabilities = £0

3) Figures exclude employers whose Employer NIC liabilities are unknown.

4) Data is RTI data matched to Business Lookup Table data.

The Small Employer’s Relief is a flat rate for all qualifying employers whose Employer National Insurance Contributions (Employer NICs) were £45,000 or under in the previous tax year.

The rate is split into two parts; 100% of the payment of Statutory Pay, plus an additional amount to cover the Employer NIC liabilities arising from the Statutory Pay.

It is calculated based on the rules for Statutory Maternity Pay, which makes up the majority of the claims received. Statutory Maternity Pay level is equal to 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, and the lower of £187.18 and 90% of average weekly earnings for the subsequent 33 weeks. [N.B. Taken from here: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/pay]

Prior to April 2025, the Small Employer’s Relief rate was 103%. From April 2025, Employer NICs is charged at a rate of 15% on earnings salary over £96 a week (equivalent to £5,000 a year). The 8.5% therefore reflects the value of Employer NICs at the current rate as a percentage of Statutory Maternity Pay over the 39 weeks the employee is eligible for.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the threshold for qualifying for Small Employers' Relief was last up-rated, and from what level.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Small employers (those who have gross Class 1 National Insurance contributions liability of £45,000 or less in the previous tax year) can claim what is known as Small Employers Relief and can recover 100 percent of Statutory Maternity Pay they have paid out plus an additional compensation payment. This additional compensation payment is known as Small Employers’ Compensation and seeks to support small employers with the associated costs of having an employee on maternity leave which are not thought to affect large employers in the same way, such as the employer’s share of National Insurance contributions that might be payable, as well as administration and recruitment costs.

The same reimbursement arrangements apply to Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Shared Parental Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Statutory Neonatal Care Pay.

The threshold for qualifying as a small employer was increased in April 2004 from £40,000 to £45,000 (or less) of gross Class 1 National Insurance contributions liability in the previous tax year.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost to early years education providers of the changes to employer National Insurance contributions announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 (HC 295).

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to repair the public finances, rebuild public services, and restore economic stability after the situation we inherited from the previous government.

The Government has protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to employers’ National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no employer NICs at all next year.

Early years providers play a crucial role in driving economic growth and that is why we have committed to delivering the expansion of government-funded childcare and invested £370m at the Spending Review in opening 3,000 new school-based nurseries in this parliament.

At the Budget in October 2024, the Chancellor announced that total funding will rise to over £8 billion in 2025-26 on early years entitlements, followed by an announcement at the Spending review of an additional £1.6bn per year by 2028-29. On top of this, the Department for Education confirmed an additional £75 million of funding in 2025-26 to support the childcare sector to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, alongside a further £25 million to support childcare for disadvantaged children through the early years pupil premium.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the average length of maternity leave broken down by income decile.

Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

We have not made a direct estimate of the average length of Maternity Leave broken down by income decile. The 2019 Parental Rights Survey asked mothers the total number of weeks of paid or unpaid maternity leave that they took (or planned to take) broken down by household income bands. This data is available in Table 30 of the mothers data tables here - https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/parental-rights-survey-2019.

In addition, the most recent HMRC statutory payments data was released as part of the Parental Leave review. This information is published here - https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/parental-leave-and-pay-review-call-for-evidence - and includes a breakdown of individuals receiving Statutory Maternity Pay by income decile (Table 15) and separately by the number of months the payment spanned (Table 21).

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research into the use of screens by children and young people replacing activities associated with healthy development, such as good quality sleep or time spent with family.

Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government recognises that children’s online activity can have benefits, from making new connections to learning new skills to gaining invaluable independence. This is why the right balance should be struck between offline activities and time spent online.

Existing research is uncertain about the causal relationships between screentime and child development. The government continues to explore how to improve the evidence base, including through further UKRI and NIHR-funded studies. This includes commissioning a feasibility study into research on the impact of social media and smartphone use on children. The report will be published in due course.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research that demonstrates the positive impacts of screen time on children and young people with a causal effect.

Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The government recognises that children’s online activity can have benefits, from making new connections to learning new skills to gaining invaluable independence. This is why the right balance should be struck between offline activities and time spent online.

Existing research is uncertain about the causal relationships between screentime and child development. The government continues to explore how to improve the evidence base, including through further UKRI and NIHR-funded studies. This includes commissioning a feasibility study into research on the impact of social media and smartphone use on children. The report will be published in due course.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take following the closure of the call for evidence for the parental leave and pay review.

Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

We received over 1300 responses to the call for evidence. This information is currently being analysed, and the findings will go on to inform the review. Next steps will include engaging with a range of stakeholders, including advocacy groups, trade unions and business representatives, as well as evaluating other sources of evidence.

The review launched on 1 July and will last for 18 months. The Government will conclude the review with a set of findings and a roadmap, including next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the findings and Government response to the parental leave and pay review call for evidence.

Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

We received over 1300 responses to the call for evidence. This information is currently being analysed, and the findings will go on to inform the review. Next steps will include engaging with a range of stakeholders, including advocacy groups, trade unions and business representatives, as well as evaluating other sources of evidence.

The review launched on 1 July and will last for 18 months. The Government will conclude the review with a set of findings and a roadmap, including next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.

Found: by Baroness Altmann, Lord Hunt of Wirral, Baroness Kramer, Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway, Baroness Penn

Found: These include: Amendments 127, 80, 138 and 139 Baroness Penn (Con) tabled amendment 127, which would

Found: These include: Amendments 127, 80, 138 and 139 Baroness Penn (Con) tabled amendment 127, which would

Found: BARONESS PENN LORD PALMER OF CHILDS HILL LORD HAMPTON BARONESS LISTER OF BURTERSETT 100_ After Clause

Found: • Baroness Penn, Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State) from 01 March 2024 to

Found: • Baroness Penn, Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State) from 01 March 2024 to 05

Found: • Baroness Penn, Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State) from 01 March 2024 to 05

Found: from 15/11/2023 to 05/07/2024 18,805 (70,969) – 4,000 23,000 25,179 (70,969) – 8,000 33,000 Baroness Penn