Social Security (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1977

Contributions

1 Amendments relating to contributions

(1) In section 129 of the [1975 c. 14.] Social Security Act 1975 (hereafter in this Act referred to as " the principal Act") subsection (3) (which among other things provides that secondary Class 1 contributions in respect of certain persons employed on vessels shall be excluded from the contributions by reference to which the Treasury supplement under section 1(5) of that Act is determined) shall be omitted.

(2) Any sums required by a secondary Class 1 contributor for the purpose of paying any secondary Class 1 contributions which are payable by him in respect of an earner in consequence of the earner's employment in an office of which the emoluments are payable out of the Consolidated Fund shall be paid out of that Fund.

Expressions used in this subsection and Part I of the principal Act have the same meanings in this subsection as in that Part.

(3) Regulations under the principal Act may provide that, in cases prescribed by the regulations, paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 1 to the principal Act (which relates to contributions in respect of earnings paid in any week) shall have effect as if for any reference to a week there were substituted a reference to a period prescribed by the regulations.

(4) In paragraph 4(a) of Schedule 1 to the principal Act (which among other things relates to the calculation, in accordance with a prescribed scale, of the amounts payable by way of Class 1 contributions) for the words " prescribed scale" there shall be substituted the words " scale prepared from time to time by the Secretary of State ".

(5) It is hereby declared that the provisions of section 5(2) of the [1975 c. 60.] Social Security Pensions Act 1975 (hereafter in this Act referred to as " the Pensions Act") and section 8(3)(b) of the principal Act (which provide for repayable Class 3 contributions to be treated for certain purposes as not having been paid) are not to be construed as implying that any other repayable contributions are to be treated for the purposes of benefit as having been paid; but regulations may provide that any repayable or repaid contributions, or any contributions which would have been payable but for regulations under the principal Act which provide that they are not payable, shall be treated, for such purposes connected with guaranteed minimum pensions within the meaning of Part III of the Pensions Act as may be prescribed, as having been paid and, in the case of repaid contributions, as not repaid.

(6) Section 2 of the Pensions Act (which provides for the standard rate of primary contributions specified in paragraph (a) and the rate of secondary contributions specified in paragraph (b) of section 4(6) of the principal Act to be increased to 6.5 per cent. and 10 per cent. respectively) shall cease to have effect; but the Secretary of State may, by an order which comes into force on the date when section 1 of the Pensions Act comes into force, provide that the said section 4(6) shall have effect with the substitution for the percentages specified in the said paragraphs (a) and (b) of percentages specified in the order, not exceeding 6.5 per cent. in the case of paragraph (a) and 10 per cent. in the case of paragraph (b).

The power to make orders conferred by this subsection shall not be exercisable after an order under this subsection amending the said section 4(6) has come into force.

(7) Subsections (1) and (2) of section 123 of the principal Act (which prohibit the making of an order under section 122 of that Act unless a draft of it has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament and provide that with the draft of such an order there shall be laid before Parliament a report by the Government Actuary as to the effect which he expects the order would have on the National Insurance Fund) shall apply to an order under the preceding subsection as it applies to an order under the said section 122 ; and—

(a) in subsection (6) of the said section 122 (which among other things provides that no order shall be made under that section so as to increase by more than 0.25 per cent. any percentage specified in section 4(6) of that Act as for the time being amended by any other Act) after the words " any other Act" there shall be inserted the words " and, in the case of section 4(6), by an order under section 1(6) of the Social Security (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1977 ";

(b) in section 167(2)(a) of the principal Act (which provides for regulations under section 129 of that Act relating to mariners and certain other persons to be subject to annulment if they are made in consequence of an order under the said section 122) after the word " 122 " there shall be inserted the words " or under section 1(6) of the Social Security (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1977. "

2 Amendment of regulations for crediting contributions

The power to amend regulations made before the passing of this Act under section 13(4) of the principal Act (crediting of contributions for the purpose of enabling contribution conditions to be satisfied) may be so exercised as to restrict the circumstances in which and the purposes for which a person is entitled to credits in respect of weeks before the coming into force of the amending regulations; but not so as to affect any benefit for a period before the coming into force of the amending regulations if it was claimed before 18th March 1977.