National Insurance Contributions Bill — Clause 2 — Freeport Conditions — Register of Beneficial Owners — Reduced Employer's National Insurance — 1 Mar 2022 at 18:15

The majority of MPs voted not to require Freeport governance bodies to maintain a public register of the beneficial owners of companies operating within the site as a condition of a reduced rate of employer's National Insurance applying within the area.

MPs were considering the National Insurance Contributions Bill.^[1][2][3]

The motion supported by the majority of MPs in this vote was:

• That this House disagrees with Lords amendment 2.

Amendment 2 stated^[4]:

• Page 2, line 26, at end insert—
• “(e) the freeport governance body of any freeport tax site in which the employer has business premises maintains a record of all the businesses operating, or applying to operate, within the tax site and this record—
• (i) contains information, which the freeport governance body must make reasonable efforts to verify, about the beneficial owner of the business, and
• (ii) is easily accessible to relevant enforcement agencies and to the general public.”

Had it not been rejected the amendment would have impacted Clause 2 of the Bill^[2][3]. The Clause provided for conditions applying to the zero-rate of secondary Class 1 National Insurance relief for Freeport employers.^[2][3]

The rejected new clause was accompanied by the following explanatory statement note^[5]:

• Lords Amendment 2 adds an additional condition whereby the Freeport NICs relief would only be available if the Freeport governance body maintained a public record of beneficial ownership of businesses operating in the freeport tax site.

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the National Insurance Contributions Bill, Parliament.uk
• [2] National Insurance Contributions Bill, as introduced, 7 September 2021, Parliament.uk
• [3] Explanatory notes to the National Insurance Contributions Bill, as introduced, 7 September 2021, Parliament.uk
• [4] Lords amendments to the National Insurance Contributions Bill, 23 February 2022, Parliament.uk
• [5] Explanatory notes to the Lords amendments to the National Insurance Contributions Bill, 23 February 2022, Parliament.uk

Debate in Parliament |