Thangam Debbonaire – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the number of people who do not receive a national insurance number within 28 days of being granted refugee status.

Priti Patel

No assessment has been made of the number of people who do not receive a National Insurance number (NINo) within 28 days of being granted refugee status.

For those granted leave to remain as a result of a successful asylum claim, a joint fast track NINo application process operates between DWP and the Home Office. This process is applicable to the principal family member and the NINo is allocated 2 days after the receipt of the application; this process has been in place since 2005.

The current year to date processing time for all NINo applications is 11.3 days.