Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Treasury Officer of Accounts
Question 30 (Mr Philip Dunne): National Insurance
Records
I understand that HMRC retains National Insurance
information indefinitely, while personal tax records are retained
for six years (PAYE) or nine years (self assessment).
In fact the information problem mentioned in
the NAO Report was not caused by absence of records. There were
two aspects:
— when the work on compensation for
former Icelandic trawlermen transferred to DTI, there was no legal
gateway to enable routine disclose of NI information;
— even where the NI information could
be made available, it did not always provide enough to say whether
claimants had been working in the industry. This is because the
NI records keep data on each employer and the length of time worked
for each year, but not dates.
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