Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that (a) employers, (b) financial institutions and (c) the Student Loans Company are aware that a National Insurance number is not required for a person to have the right to (i) work and (ii) access relevant services in the UK.
The Home Office has published extensive guidance for employers on how to conduct a check to establish whether an individual has a right to work. A list of acceptable documents which enable an individual to demonstrate they have the right work is set out in the Employers Guide to Right to Work Checks:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checks-employers-guide.
We keep our guidance under regular review and will consider whether there is more we can do to provide advice to employers on this matter.
My officials are also in regular dialogue with their counterparts in the Department for Work and Pensions, which has the lead on National Insurance Number policy.