Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of deferring the upcoming increase in the contributions holiday for SAYE schemes from six to 12 months to allow more time for the share plan industry to undertake (a) system development and (b) regression testing.

The government announced at Autumn Budget that it would extend the Save As You Earn (SAYE) contributions holiday from 6 to 12 months for those on maternity and parental leave from 6 April 2018. After receiving representations from the share plan industry, the government is delaying the implementation of this change until 1 September 2018 to allow for software changes and testing.

The government will, from the same date, extend the SAYE contributions holiday to 12 months for all SAYE plans. This change will extend the benefit to all SAYE participants, including those with pre-existing contracts.