L

Lord Altrincham (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 25 February 2025

Debate

National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill

Contribution

My Lords, I support my noble friend and thank him for his brief-ish words on local taxpayers and his update on the Great Reform Bill as well. I thank him for his amendment to ensure that the Government initiate a review into the impact of this tax on local authority finances. As countless noble Lords have remarked, both in Committee and during this debate, local authorities already find themselves in a perilous financial position. As my noble friend Lord Jamieson said in Grand Committee, local government currently spends more than 70% of its funding on adult and children’s social care. The Local Government Association has estimated that this measure will cost local authorities a total of £1.7 billion. Some £1.2 billion of that is indirect costs. While the Government may have offset the direct costs of local authorities, they have not done so for the indirect costs they will face. They will have either to cut public services or to put up council tax. Given this, a review of the impact on local authorities is surely the minimum we can expect from the Government. I urge the Minister to accept this amendment.

More from Lord Altrincham (Con)

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.

Partner sites