Treasury

Stephen Timms Excerpts

Tuesday 19th April 2022 Ministerial Corrections

The following are extracts from the debates on the National Insurance Contributions (Increase of Thresholds) Bill on 24 March 2022.

[Stephen Timms]

The Minister mentioned Martin Lewis, and I wonder if she could provide the information that the Chief Secretary said she might be able to give in winding up this debate about the effect of this national insurance measure on people claiming universal credit. Martin Lewis has made the point that they will lose 55% of the £330 a year benefit. Will she confirm if that is correct?

[Lucy Frazer]

I was going to come back to that point, but I am very happy to deal with it now. The right hon. Gentleman is right that an individual may be affected by the taper, but they will be better off overall as a result of the change. If they are earning below the work allowance, they will get the full benefit. It is important to point out the changes we have already made for those on universal credit. As a result of those changes, 1.7 million households will benefit from the taper rate change, which is £1,000 of additional income for them.

[Official Report, 24 March 2022, Vol. 711, c. 508.]

Letter of correction from the Financial Secretary to the Treasury:

Errors have been identified in my response to the right hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms).

The correct response should have been: