National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill

Viscount Goschen Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 29th January 2025 Grand Committee

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, I support my noble friend’s amendment and will speak briefly.

The Minister in the other place said that the Department for Education made an assessment of the impact of the rise in NICs on special educational needs. Bearing in mind the debate that we have already had on the lack of impact assessments, if an assessment has been made, it should be shared. We have already seen the disproportionate impact of VAT on independent schools and the impact that it is having on children with special educational needs. Again, this is tantamount to a double whammy. These children are among the most vulnerable in society.

I reflect on my time as a councillor in my local authority many years ago: the vital link and lifeline that these drivers provide, as my noble friend Lady Monckton has articulated so passionately and poignantly, are essential. I also reflect on the statement made by the Chief Secretary in the other place, which said that, when we are pursuing economic growth, these changes must permeate every element of society—I paraphrase—and every part of our country. How can impacting the most vulnerable contribute to any kind of sensible understanding of growth?

I was a Minister for a long time; perhaps that is why I am not counted alongside the dynamic duo, on my side of the Committee, of my noble friends Lady Neville-Rolfe and Lady Noakes. I say this to the Minister: one thing that Ministers in your Lordships’ House do is listen—the Minister is doing that—but that listening also turns into action. Many vulnerable groups, including those highlighted by my noble friend, are being impacted. As a minimum, surely we need engagement at this stage. After all, that is what we are all about: scrutiny, listening, reviewing and ensuring that, when it leaves the House, legislation is in a better state than when it got here. I appeal to the Minister, as a minimum, to engage and listen to some of these groups that my noble friend highlighted. Perhaps, through his intervention, the Government will think again.

[Viscount Goschen (Con)]

My Lords, the Committee is very much in the debt of my noble friend Lady Monckton for her having raised this important issue this afternoon, because it presents a microcosm of all the arguments around the Bill. It is a narrowly focused amendment that draws the Committee’s attention to one narrow measure—one small, but very important, part of our national life. It is therefore incumbent on the Minister to give a substantive answer, not just “We don’t do further impact assessments”, because I am not sure that there is widespread belief in the country about the impact assessment that the Treasury notes has been made. I do not believe that that gives sufficient confidence. It is a short, high-level note and, at the bottom of the electronic page, it asks, “Did you find this page helpful: yes or no?” I think that most Members of the Committee would reply in the negative.

It is important for the Minister to listen to an illustration of the effect that this Bill will have, as we have heard in previous groups of amendments, on the wider growth of our economy as well as on extremely vulnerable people, as was illustrated by my noble friend’s amendments. I very much look forward to the Minister’s detailed and substantive answer.