§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the purposes for which his Department and its Executive Agencies require a birth certificate to be provided by(a) employees, (b) contractors,(c) those applying for employment or contracts and (d) other persons. [82768]
§ Mr. TimmsThis Department and its Agencies require new employees to provide proof of identity and their date of birth, and the provision of their birth certificate is one means of doing this. However, a birth certificate is required only in the absence of other documentation, usually a passport. The Department and its Executive Agencies do not ask for birth certificates from contractors or from those seeking a contract.
The Benefits Agency does not insist on seeing birth certificates of new claimants of social security benefits to verify their identity, except when they are claiming certain benefits such as retirement pensions and child benefit. For other social security benefits, other forms of documentation are also acceptable.
The Child Support Agency will ask for sight of a qualifying child's birth certificate where there is a paternity dispute to establish whether or not the non-resident parent is shown on the birth certificate. It is unlikely that the Agency will request a birth certificate in any other circumstances, as the dates of birth of qualifying children are verified for the purposes of child benefit.