National Insurance Contributions (Reduction in Rates) Act 2024

Key Points

• - The bill reduces National Insurance contributions (NIC) rates for employees and self-employed people, reducing payroll taxes for those workers.
• - It interacts with threshold rules (frozen thresholds) that could affect how many people pay NIC; one amendment sought a Treasury review of these effects within three months of passage.
• - A second amendment would have required analysis of the impact on total NIC receipts and public finances if NICs were reduced to zero; this was defeated.
• - The amendments reflect policy debates about how NIC reductions would affect revenue and public services, and who would be financially better or worse off under the changes.
• - The bill cleared both Houses and received Royal Assent, becoming law on 20 March 2024.
• - The overall votes show large majorities in favour for the main bill, with opposition amendments defeated; party lines were mixed, and some MPs from several parties supported or opposed aspects of the bill.

Progress

The bill progressed through the Commons and Lords in March 2024 and received Royal Assent on 20 March 2024, becoming law.

Voting

In the Commons, the bill passed Second Reading (304–43) and Third Reading (293–41), while a Reasoned Amendment to the Second Reading (proposing a review of effects and financial impact) was defeated (44–300). The party breakdown shows mixed positions within parties and general cross-party scrutiny, with the government-side support for the main measure and opposition attempts to add reviews rejected.