To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) whether he will announce the outcome of his Department's review of the procedure for allocating national insurance numbers;(2) whether his Department intends to consult the Commission for Racial Equality and organisations working with refugees in its review of the procedure for allocating national insurance numbers.
Following an internal review of procedures, it was decided that when foreign nationals are restricted from seeking work in this country we would no longer inform the Home Office when a national insurance number is issued for benefit purposes only. The Department now accepts a wider range of documents as evidence of identity.The review took careful account of views expressed by organisations working with refugees.