Young people leave custody 'without NI numbers'

Children should receive a National Insurance number automatically just before their 16th birthday if they live in UK and their parents or guardians are receiving child benefit for them.

But Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said there is evidence that young people are leaving custody without a number.

She has written to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons calling for checks as to whether a number has been issued to form part of the criteria they inspect on.

"Releasing a young person into the community without a National Insurance number puts them in an extremely difficult position," Crook states in the letter.

"Without a National Insurance number they cannot get a job nor can they claim benefits or crisis loans while they are seeking work or arranging education or training. Unless they are fortunate enough to have the support of their parents then a period of destitution is virtually inevitable.

"Without any financial support or the means of finding work, a young person is much more likely to find themselves evicted from their accommodation or reverting to less orthodox ways of generating income. This is a terrific, and avoidable, waste.

"The social and economic cost of a young person failing to reintegrate back into the community is out of all proportion to the very small amount of forward planning needed to ensure they have a National Insurance number before being released."

She added that young people are being "needlessly set up to fail".

The letter has been copied to Michael Spurr, director general of the National Offender Management Service (Noms), and Frances Done, chair of the Youth Justice Board.

A spokeswoman for the MoJ said Noms is not responsible for ensuring young offenders have a number on release, declining to comment on the concerns raised in the letter.

CYP Now is awaiting a comment from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, which is responsible for issuing National Insurance numbers.