National Insurance Contributions Bill
10:40 am
Jane Kennedy: We were aware that this was possible as a likely consequence of the reforms in the discussions leading up to the Budget. Both HMRC and the Treasury were aware of this possible consequence. However, further work needed to be done in order to be clear how best to correct the anomaly in a way that would be fair to everybody, which was the Government’s intention. It did not become clear until further work had been done between the Department for Work and Pensions, HMRC and the Treasury on exactly how to do that. It was apparent to us that it was better to do it separately in a Bill of this nature, rather than to take the reform forward as an amendment to the Pensions Bill.