National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill: Motion to disagree to Lords Amendment 1

What happened

On 19 March 2025, the House of Commons voted by 307 ayes to 182 noes to disagree with Lords Amendment 1 to the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill. This means MPs rejected a change inserted by the House of Lords that would have maintained existing employer national insurance contribution rates and thresholds for NHS-commissioned services, including GPs, dentists, pharmacists, social care providers and hospices. By passing this motion, the Commons upheld the government's original proposal to raise the rate of secondary Class 1 (employer) national insurance contributions.

Why it matters

The vote keeps in place a key revenue-raising measure from the October 2024 Budget, under which the employer national insurance contribution rate rises from 13.8% to 15%, while the threshold at which employers begin paying falls from £9,100 to £5,000 per year. The Lords amendment would have shielded a range of health and care providers from those changes. By rejecting it, the Commons confirmed that organisations such as GP practices, dental surgeries, community pharmacies, independent social care providers and hospices will face the higher employer costs without direct government compensation of the kind given to central government departments and local authorities. The government argued the measure is necessary to fund public services and repair the public finances; opponents argued it will force affected providers to cut staff, reduce appointments or scale back services.

The politics

The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 307 Labour and Labour Co-operative MPs who voted backed the government, with no defections. All 93 Conservatives, all 59 Liberal Democrats, all eight SNP members, all six Reform UK members, all four Plaid Cymru members, all three Greens and all three Democratic Unionist Party members who voted opposed the government. Two independents voted with the government and five against. The Bill had already passed through the Lords, where peers inserted 21 amendments; one was automatically ruled out of order under Standing Order 78(3) on financial privilege grounds, and the government moved to reject the remaining 20. The episode sits within a broader "ping-pong" (the process by which the two chambers exchange amendments until agreement is reached) confrontation between the Commons and the Lords over the employer national insurance increase, which has been one of the most politically contested elements of the government's first Budget.