Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans for self-employed mothers to have access to statutory maternity pay as a result of the rise in Class 4 national insurance contributions.

As the Chancellor announced in his statement to the House of Commons on the 15th of March, the Government will no longer be proceeding with the changes announced at Spring Budget 2017 to increase Class 4 National Insurance contributions (NICs) in April 2018 and April 2019.

The Government will consult over the summer on options to address differences in parental benefits – the principal outstanding difference between employed and self-employed people that NICs provide access to.