Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken to issue A1 forms on the UK’s live music sector.

Many musicians travel internationally for performances, and HMRC acknowledges that access to A1 certificates is important to them in accessing their social security rights in the EU, EEA and Switzerland.

HMRC has seen a significant rise in the number of A1 applications and in other National Insurance work which has impacted processing times.

While progress has been made, HMRC acknowledges that more needs to be done to meet its service standards and is aiming to do so for all types of A1 applications by the end of April 2024. To address this the department has implemented a recovery strategy, including providing additional resources. HMRC has also recently introduced new online versions of the A1 application forms based on customer feedback, along with additional features to improve the application process.