National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill Committee: Amendment 1

What happened: The House of Commons, sitting in Committee of the Whole House, voted on Amendment 1 to the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill on 17 December 2024. The amendment, moved by Liberal Democrat MP Pippa Heylings, sought to exempt certain categories of employer from the full rate of the proposed increase in secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions, specifically targeting care home and domiciliary care providers, GP practices, and related primary and social care services. The amendment was defeated by 351 votes to 100.

Why it matters: The Bill raises the rate of employer National Insurance contributions from 13.8% to 15%, while also lowering the earnings threshold at which employers begin paying. These changes are projected to raise approximately 25 billion pounds. Amendment 1 would have created a protected category of employers in health and social care, applying a lower "specified employer secondary percentage" to those providers. Opponents of the Bill argued that care homes, GP surgeries, hospices, charities, childcare providers, and other organisations that deliver publicly commissioned services but are not directly funded by government would face significant cost increases with no corresponding funding guarantee, threatening jobs, service capacity, and in some cases organisational viability.

The politics: Labour MPs voted unanimously against the amendment, providing the margin of defeat. The Liberal Democrats supplied the largest bloc of Aye votes at 71, joined by the Scottish National Party, the Democratic Unionist Party, the Green Party, Plaid Cymru, and most Reform UK MPs who voted. The Conservative Party tabled its own amendments in the same debate but did not vote for Amendment 1 in significant numbers, reflecting a separate opposition strategy rather than a unified cross-party front. The vote sits within a broader period of tension over employment costs, with related divisions on the Employment Rights Bill in March 2025 showing similar government-versus-opposition patterns on business burden questions.