Frank Field (Birkenhead, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is the practice of her Department to inform the Department of Work and Pensions when a migrant in possession of a national insurance number no longer has valid leave to remain in the UK.

Mark Harper
The national insurance number is an administrative reference number used by the Department for Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for benefits, tax and national insurance contribution purposes, and does not provide a migrant with automatic access to benefits or employment. The UK Border Agency does not collect data on national insurance numbers held by migrants, but does share data with the Department for Work and Pensions where necessary to establish a person’s entitlement to benefits.