Tue, 1 Mar 2011

Fastpath NINOs scaled back

The Fastpath National Insurance Numbers (NINOs) registration scheme has been closed to new companies, stoking fears the system will be phased out.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) declined to explain why the scheme, which allows employers to arrange NINOs for certain employees entering from outside the UK without attending an identity interview, was being scaled back.

A spokesman at Jobcentre Plus said the scheme would eventually be phased out, but a DWP spokeswoman could not confirm when. ‘No decision has yet been made,’ she said.

Tim Kelsey, proprietor of Kelsey’s Payroll Services, said the change would be unpopular among payroll professionals. ‘This is a surprising and unwanted policy change from DWP.

‘Requiring senior staff to undertake the process of attending interviews at Jobcentre Plus is not a constructive use of their time or for the civil servants involved.

‘If the DWP intends to phase out the scheme, as this move suggests, it would be interesting to know whether this is because of hard evidence proving abuse, or whether it is simply an attempt to save money from a particular DWP budget.’

Fastpath was introduced in 2003 by DWP and HMRC and is available to NHS staff recruited from abroad, employers applying for work permits for foreign employees under the intra-company transfer scheme, and successful asylum seekers.

Companies already registered can continue to use Fastpath, while others can apply through the CRS route, which sends forms straight to the applicant.