§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what instructions will be given to staff on the documents necessary to prove(a) a claimant's identity and (b) a claimant's partner's identity. [79231]
§ Mr. TimmsDepartmental guidance for establishing a customer's identity is available in the form of a guide which is held in all DSS offices; it is called the Evidence of Identity guide. It lists examples of documents that may be used by a customer in order to help establish their identity in order to trace or allocate a National Insurance number.
The same guide is used to guide staff on establishing the identify of a customer's partner or any other adult included in the claim.
Current procedures require staff to look at documentary evidence provided and ask questions specifically directed at the customer to enable the DSS to get a complete picture of the customer's history.
Leaflet GL25 (previously BAL4), available to the customer in all DSS offices, assists customers by telling them the sort of documents that would be helpful to bring in to a DSS office when trying to establish identity.