Employment and Support Allowance

(asked on 19th May 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to amend the employment and support allowance eligibility to include claimants who have been unable to pay National Insurance contributions as a result of shielding.


Answered by
Justin Tomlinson Portrait
Justin Tomlinson
This question was answered on 24th May 2021

We have no plans to amend the National Insurance (NI) contributions conditions for contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

Clinically extremely vulnerable individuals advised to ‘shield’ in line with public health guidance were eligible for ESA and would have received NI credits as part of their award. Where an individual required further financial assistance they may have been eligible for Universal Credit.

In addition, employers could and still can furlough clinically extremely vulnerable employees, who remain eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) even whilst shielding guidance is not in place. Individuals continue to pay NI contributions as normal as part of CJRS.

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