Lord Livermore (Lab)

If it is a new employment contract, it is a new employment. It is a new job. I think that should be fairly clear. On his point about collective bargaining, it is my understanding that it would be outside of scope. Again, that will be set out clearly in guidance. Finally, I turn to Amendments 9, 10, 24, 25, 30 and 41 from the noble Baronesses, Lady Neville-Rolfe and Lady Kramer, and the noble Lords, Lord Altrincham and Lord Fuller, which relate to parliamentary scrutiny and propose an impact report on the contributions limit. The core policy is set out in primary legislation to provide certainty for employers, with detailed operational matters deliberately dealt with through regulations to allow time to engage with employers. The approach we have taken follows long-standing precedent in national insurance legislation and ensures that the design is workable, fair and consistent with the wider national insurance contributions framework. Early and sustained engagement with industry is central to the Government’s approach. The regulations will set out the detailed operational framework, including matters such as administration, process and interaction with payroll systems. These are best informed by technical expertise from employers, payroll providers and software developers themselves. Building on that engagement, the Government will consult on the regulations ahead of implementation. This will allow stakeholders to scrutinise the detailed design, raise practical concerns and begin preparing well in advance. It is through this process of consultation, guidance and industry engagement that employers will gain the clarity they need on how the system will operate in practice. I also remind the House that a tax information and impact note has already been published, setting out the expected impacts of the policy on individuals, employers and the Exchequer. As with other tax measures, the Government will continue to monitor the operation of the policy as it is implemented and informed by ongoing engagement with Parliament and external stakeholders. Additionally, I assure the House that the Government intend to lay the regulations in good time before they commence. This will both support employer readiness and ensure that Parliament has a proper opportunity to scrutinise the regulations before they take effect. The Bill draws a clear and appropriate distinction in relation to what matters should be dealt with by way of affirmative and negative procedure. Where regulations reduce the generosity of the £2,000 cap and increase Class 1 national insurance liability, they are subject to the affirmative procedure, ensuring full parliamentary scrutiny where contributor liability is increased. By contrast, regulations that implement the policy framework, set out administrative and operational detail or increase the cap so that less national insurance is payable are subject to the negative procedure. This reflects long-standing practice in national insurance legislation, where secondary legislation under the negative procedure is used for the operation of reliefs and matters of administration. I also remind noble Lords that the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee has scrutinised the Bill and raised no concerns about the proposed level of parliamentary scrutiny. Taken together, this approach provides robust parliamentary oversight where liabilities increase, while reflecting the well-established precedent for legislating for administration and reliefs through secondary legislation subject to negative resolution. For these reasons, the Government do not believe that additional statutory requirements are necessary. In light of the positions I have set out, I hope that noble Lords will feel able not to press their amendments.