Such expectation, my Lords. I know that the question of NI eligibility raised by the amendment is one about which the noble Baroness is deeply concerned and has been for some time; this is not the first time the issue has been raised in your Lordships’ House by her and others. I hope that I can reassure them that the Government are already actively considering this matter, and I look forward to working further with her on this outside the debates on the Bill, to see how best it can be addressed. We are in no sense claiming that this is not a valid issue.
I know that officials from a range of government departments have already been in discussion with interested parties, including the noble Baroness, over recent months, and this work has been considering the evidence base around the matter of national insurance eligibility. As the noble Baroness is aware, it remains a work in progress and we believe that we do not yet know enough to make a sensible legislative change at this point. There are many complex issues regarding the scale of the problem and how to address it.
The noble Baroness raised the figure of 200,000 people who might be affected by the problems that she has so graphically described, but these figures do not align with DWP analysis, which suggests that 50,000 individuals are affected and that the group is disproportionately made up of under-25 year-olds. The noble Baroness laughs but the DWP is not coming up with a low figure for the sake of frustrating her; that is its best view. That is why we need to do more work on the issue.
6.45 pm
The amendment specifically seeks to change the position for zero-hours workers who have annual earnings above £3,000. The issue of low earners not gaining entitlement to contributory benefits is, however, not one exclusive to those on zero-hours contracts, and as such it is right to consider it as part of the wider work already under way. The amendment would mean that
a person on a zero-hours contract who earned £60 per week would gain access to contributory benefits. However, someone who worked a limited number of guaranteed hours each week—that is, not on a zero-hours contract—earning £110 per week, would not. I am sure that the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, would agree that that would at best be a partial solution.