National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill: Motion to disagree to Lords Amendment 3

On 19 March 2025, the House of Commons voted by 314 to 187 to reject Lords Amendment 3, which would have exempted employers providing home-to-school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities from the rise in employer National Insurance Contributions. The motion passed, meaning the Lords amendment was removed and the NI increase will apply to SEND transport providers as it does to other employers. The vote matters because SEND home-to-school transport is largely commissioned by local councils from private and third-sector providers. Rejecting the amendment means those providers face higher payroll costs from 6 April 2025, when employer NICs rise from 13.8% to 15% and the earnings threshold at which employers become liable falls from £9,100 to £5,000 per year. Councils already funding this transport could face pressure either to absorb higher contract costs or to reduce provision. The government argued it had already set aside £2 billion in grant funding for local government in 2025-26, including £515 million specifically to help councils meet the NICs increase across their services. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 311 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted backed the government. Every Conservative, Liberal Democrat, SNP, Reform UK, Plaid Cymru and Democratic Unionist MP who voted went into the No lobby, alongside four independents. There were no notable cross-party rebels on either side. The result fits the pattern of the broader ping-pong (the exchange of amendments between the Commons and Lords) on this Bill, with the government defeating all opposition attempts to carve out exemptions from the NI rise.