§ Mr. Clifford ForsytheTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many national insurance numbers existing on 31 March were being held as a record following the death of the owner; [24595]
(2) how many national insurance numbers existing on 31 March 1995 (a) referred to owners living abroad and (b) were cancelled between 1 April 1994 and 31 March 1995; [24596]
(3) how many national insurance numbers existed in Northern Ireland on 31 March 1995. [24594]
§ Mr. MossResponsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alec Wylie. I have asked him to arrange a reply to be given.
Letter from Alec Wylie to Mr. Clifford Forsythe, dated 18 May 1995:
I have been asked to reply to your three recent Parliamentary Questions relating to National Insurance numbers.I should first explain that all National Insurance records for the United Kingdom are held centrally in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Northern Ireland National Insurance numbers are not held separately from the rest of the United Kingdom. The information you require is not readily available and to disaggregate the National Insurance numbers for Northern Ireland would incur disproportionate costs.I can, however, tell you that at July 1994, for the United Kingdom as a whole, there was 8.8 million National Insurance numbers being held as a record following the death of the owner. This can be for a number of reasons including to support payment of a Widow's Pension. At July 1994, again for the United Kingdom as a whole, 447W there were 6.1 million National Insurance numbers which referred to owners living abroad.Finally, from 1 April 1994 to 31 March 1995, there were 10,421 National Insurance Numbers cancelled in the United Kingdom.I am sorry that I cannot provide the information in the format you require but I hope that the information I have given you will be helpful.