Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many temporary national insurance numbers were issued in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk (c) the East of England and (d) England and Wales by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last five years; and what proportion of such numbers were issued for tax credit purposes.

The Government does not issue temporary National Insurance numbers. DWP on behalf of HMRC follows a secure and validated allocation process which results in an individual receiving a permanent National Insurance number.