National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill: motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 6

MPs voted on 23 March 2026 to reject Lords Amendment 6 to the National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill, which would have exempted small and medium-sized businesses and charities from new National Insurance contributions on salary-sacrifice pension amounts above £2,000 a year. The government's motion to disagree with the Lords passed by 278 votes to 164 (Division 458). The bill will now apply the new NICs charge to all employers, regardless of size, when the measure takes effect from the 2029-30 tax year. The vote means the NIC charge on salary-sacrifice pension contributions above the £2,000 annual threshold will fall on smaller employers and charities just as it will on large firms. The government argued the reform is necessary to control a tax relief whose cost was projected to nearly treble to £8 billion by 2031, and that it benefits mainly higher and additional-rate taxpayers while being unavailable to lower earners and the self-employed. Opponents argued that smaller employers already face a heavy regulatory and financial burden and that removing the exemption would make it harder for SMEs and charities to maintain pension provision for their staff. Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs voted unanimously for the government's motion, providing all 274 ayes from those two groups. Conservatives (89 no votes), Liberal Democrats (57), the SNP (5), the DUP (5), Plaid Cymru (3), Reform UK (3), and Traditional Unionist Voice (1) all voted against. Three independents voted with the government and two against. There were no Conservative or Liberal Democrat ayes recorded. The result reflects a clean government-versus-opposition divide, with no visible cross-party rebellion on either side.