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

MPs voted 312 to 190 on 25 March 2025 to reject Lords Amendment 1B to the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill. The amendment, which the House of Lords had inserted into the Bill for the second time, would have created a power for ministers to exempt certain health and care providers, including hospices, GP practices, NHS-commissioned dentists and pharmacists, and charitable health and care organisations, from the government's increase in employer National Insurance contributions. The Commons voted to disagree with the Lords, removing the exemption power from the Bill. The vote has immediate practical consequences for hospices and other charitable health providers. The Bill raises the employer NICs rate from 13.8% to 15% and lowers the threshold at which employers become liable from £9,100 to £5,000 per year, both taking effect from 6 April 2025. Unlike NHS bodies, hospices and similar charitable providers receive no direct compensation for this additional cost. Opposition MPs cited Hospice UK figures suggesting the changes will cost the hospice sector up to £30 million per year, raising concerns about reductions in services for people at the end of life. The government argued that granting exemptions would require higher borrowing, lower spending elsewhere, or alternative tax rises, and pointed to a £100 million capital fund and £26 million in revenue support for hospices as the appropriate form of assistance. Party lines held almost completely. All 310 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted supported the government's position; none voted against. The 100 Conservatives, 64 Liberal Democrats, 8 SNP members, 5 DUP members, 4 Plaid Cymru members and 4 Reform UK members who voted all opposed the motion. Two independents voted with the government and four against. The vote formed part of a parliamentary ping-pong process, in which the Lords had already sent back the same exemption a second time after the Commons rejected it the previous week. A related division on the same day, Division 140's companion vote on Lords Amendment 21B, produced a similar result of 314 to 196.