Impact assessment

Store my National Insurance Number service screening equality impact assessment

Published 9 August 2023

Project objectives

The ‘Store my NINO’ service will be a new standalone service. The service will be accessible via an individual’s Personal Tax Account (PTA) and HMRC App and will integrate with the find my NINO service and Single Customer Account (SCA) in the future.

The ‘Store my NINO’ service will achieve the business objective of helping people to store their NINO securely and enables individual users to:

1. view their NINO on the screen
2. generate a copy of the fully accessible PDF version of the NINO letter
3. store a copy of the NINO letter in their chosen device via a digital app wallet (Google Wallet or Apple Wallet)
4. print a NINO letter
5. share a NINO letter
6. store their NINO securely in an app wallet of their choice for Android and Apple to enable access to NINO in the future without signing into their digital account

Customer benefits:

• enhanced user experience
• streamlined process to access NINO
• safe and secure storage of NINO for future use
• quicker access to NINO
• increased confidence in the accuracy and security of their information

This also means customers can now save up to 15 days by avoiding having to wait for HMRC to resend this letter by post.

Customer groups affected

The following groups are affected:

• potentially everyone with a live NINO: 83 million
• PTA/HMRC existing users: 17 million (estimated)
• people allocated a new NINO each year either via Department for Work and Pensions or HMRC: 1.6 million
• people who contact HMRC by phone for confirmation of their NINO (estimated this is calls not individual people): 519,000
• people who contact HMRC by webchat for confirmation of their NINON (estimated this is calls not individual people): 53,000

What customers will need to do

What customers need to do as a result of the change

Once the user has successfully signed into the ‘Store my NINO’ service through their PTA, they will be presented with the digital wallet functionality, and also an accessible PDF view of the NINO letter and an option to print that letter. The customer can store or print their NINO should they choose to.

The service will be available to users via desktop and the HMRC App and will be automatically available for Welsh language users.

How customers will access this service.

Users will access the ‘Store my NINO’ service from GOV.UK or from the HMRC App.

They will sign into their PTA using a Government Gateway user ID and password.

Once signed into their PTA, the customer will have immediate access to the ‘Store my NINO’ service.

When customers need to do this

‘Store my NINO’ is not a mandated service.

Customers with an Apple iPhone can store their NINO in their Apple Wallet from 24 May 2023. For Android users, this functionality will be available from August 2023.

Customers who use assistive technology (such as screen readers) may notice a slight change in their NINO letter format as accessibility features have been improved to meet the latest accessibility standards. Customers who don’t use this technology, should notice no change to their user journey.

Assessing the impact

We assessed the impact on those in protected characteristic groups in line with the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty and section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act:

• racial groups
• sex
• gender reassignment
• sexual orientation
• pregnancy and maternity
• marriage and civil partnership
• political opinion (in Northern Ireland only)

There is no evidence to suggest any specific impacts on those customers within any of the protected characteristic groups listed above. Extra support will be provided as required.

Disabled

Impact on customers

Minor. Some disabled customers or customers who need extra help may not be able to use the new service.

Customers who use assistive technology (such as screen readers) may notice a slight change in their NINO letter format as accessibility features have been improved to meet the latest accessibility standards. Customers who don’t use this technology, should notice no change to their user journey.

Proposed mitigation

We will develop accessible digital services and provide support to those customers who need help to communicate with us digitally. The ‘Store my NINO’ service will comply with the Equality Act 2010 and will meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The accessibility testing and audit have been completed.

Customers can still choose to contact us by telephone and to request paper forms and outputs.

Additional support includes telephony support from the Business and Usual (BAU) helplines and the extra support team if required, face to face visits, accessible online content including recorded webinars, tutorial YouTube videos and GOV.UK guidance and help pages.

As ‘Store my NINO’ is accessible via the PTA this will include the Trusted Helper service.

Age

Impact on customers

Minor. We expect positive impacts for people in younger age groups however 27% of Assisted Digital customers and 87% of Digitally Excluded Customers average 65 or more years old. We therefore expect the desire of these customers to adopt a new system will be low.

Many 16 to 24-year-olds have difficulty accessing Government Gateway and verify security checks which may impact their ability to use the ‘Store my NINO’ service.

Evidence suggests there is a lack of awareness around National Insurance and the purpose of the NINO.

Proposed mitigation

HMRC will continue to provide additional support for those customers that need it. Customers can also still choose to contact us by telephone and to request paper forms and outputs.

As ‘Store my NINO’ is accessible via the PTA this will include the Trusted Helper service.

Religion or belief

Impact on customers

Minor. The intrinsic values of some religions limit the times of day or week when customers in this group can interact with HMRC services.

Some religious groups follow rules related to computer use that may affect access to digital services.

Proposed mitigation

Digital services will operate 24/7 and so these customers will be able to decide when they want to engage with HMRC.

Other channels, such as phone and paper, remain available for HMRC customers to use.

People with dependents (carers)

Minor. Assisted digital and digitally excluded customers tend to seek support from family/friends rather than paid agents.

Proposed mitigation

HMRC will develop ‘Store my NINO’ as an accessible digital service and will provide support for all customers who need help to communicate with us digitally.

As ‘Store my NINO’ is accessible via the PTA this will include the Trusted Helper service.

People who use different languages (Including Welsh Language and British Sign Language)

Impact on customers

Minor.

Proposed mitigation

The service will be available to users via desktop and HMRC App and will be available for Welsh language users.

Opportunities to promote equalities

We have considered opportunities to promote equalities and good relations between people in each of the protected characteristic groups and those outside of that group.

We will evaluate the effectiveness of our targeted communication campaign. We are conscious that our user groups are wide ranging from children aged 15 years and 9 months to pensioners, and parents and a one size fits all approach is not conducive. 

We already established a lack of awareness around National Insurance from children, comparable to foreign nationals that are new to the UK are applying for a NINO, especially compared to adults who have a history of taxation experience.

By making the ‘Store My NINO’ service and associated processes inclusive and as accessible as possible, customers who use assistive technology (such as screen readers) may notice a slight change in their NINO letter format as accessibility features have been improved to meet the latest accessibility standards. Customers who don’t use this technology should notice no change to their user journey.

A full equality impact assessment is not recommended.