Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the operational capacity of the National Insurance services team to tackle the number of A1 certificate applications; and when are processing times expected to return to the standard service level.

HMRC recognises how important it is for customers to receive their A1 certificates promptly and is strengthening the service to support this. Additional National Insurance advisers are being trained to further increase capacity.

The service‑level agreement (SLA) for A1 certificates is to process 80% of online applications within 15 working days, and 80% of postal applications within 40 working days. HMRC has implemented a plan to stabilise performance and expects to meet its SLAs by the end of the tax year.

Customers are encouraged to apply online for A1 certificates, as online applications are quicker to deal with.