Written question asked by Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench) on Thursday, 2 May 2024, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Friday, 17 May 2024. It was answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Conservative) on Tuesday, 14 May 2024 on behalf of the Treasury.

National Insurance Contributions

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 12 February (HL Deb col 10) that HMRC expects processing times for A1 forms to return to normal by April, what assessment they have made of progress so far, and what steps they are taking to improve processing times.

Answer: HMRC has taken steps to address the backlog of A1 applications, have achieved their recovery strategy ahead of time and they are now achieving service levels. Since September 2023 the processing times for online applications have decreased to 6 days from 15 weeks previously, and for post applications, it is now also 6 days, down from 33 weeks. The Standard Level of Service Agreement targets for both are 15 days and 40 days respectively. As of 3rd May, HMRC has reduced the number of cases on hand to approximately 2500.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: HL4324
Session: 2023-24
Related items: Self-employment: A1 Forms
Monday, 12 February 2024
Oral answers to questions
House of Lords
Subjects: EU countries Forms National insurance contributions Overseas workers
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk