Government national insurance fiasco
Updated on 15 January 2008
Thousands of illegal immigrants may have been given national insurance numbers by the government, Channel 4 news has learned.
We can disclose that thousands of illegal immigrants had a National Insurance number, entitling them to benefits and a state pension.
This could add to the pressure on the work and pensions secretary Peter Hain. His department hands out National Insurance numbers.
He's already facing a possible police inquiry over donations to his deputy leadership campaign.
It emerged last year that more than 6,500 illegal immigrants got jobs in the security industry. Today the industry's authorities told this programme their details, including NI numbers, had appeared to be valid.
In a statement the Security Industry Authority, which licenses security guards, said: "It's a mandatory requirement on the application form that you provide details of your National Insurance number.
"Anyone who doesn't provide that has their application automatically rejected. All of the 6,653 individuals had a National Insurance number that looked to us to be valid."
The Conservatives called the situation 'shambolic'. Parliamentary answers obtained by the Conservatives suggest national insurance numbers are routinely handed out to immigrants who don't have the right to work.
Between January 2004 and April 2007, almost 900,000 non- EU citizens were issued with national insurance numbers. However during the same period only 270,000 work permits were issued.
National Insurance numbers can be issued via local job centres. Without one you can't get work. Stricter controls were supposed to have been put in place by the government in 2006, requiring people to come for interview before being given a number.
Yet a year later it looks as if illegal immigrants are still able to get themselves national insurance numbers, fooling employers that they're legitimate.
The department of work and pensions said in a statement:
"We are working with the Home Office, SIA, and HMRC to check whether NINOs were obtained by individuals without permission to work in the UK..."
