§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many staff who worked for the Contributions Agency before it was transferred to the Inland Revenue continue to work on national insurance in his Department. [98343]
§ Mr. RookerOn 1 April 1999 responsibility for National Insurance (NI) contributions operations and policy passed from DSS to the Inland Revenue. As my hon. Friend, the then Minister of State, explained in his written answer on 31 March 1999,Official Report, column 429, the staff working in those areas were transferred to the Inland Revenue. No Contributions Agency staff were retained in the Department to work on NI contributions matters because the Department has no residual responsibility for the collection or recording of contributions.
This Department and Inland Revenue continue to work together closely on National Insurance matters including, for example, the integrity of the National Insurance number.