I`ve just rung the number 0191 218 3600.  The lady said she would deal with my request as a `one off`.  I explained it is expensive to ring 0845 particularly when there is an anticipated wait for these services but I get the impression they are trying to dsicourage it.  I managted to get what a wanted- a pension forecase- so one less headache.

Please can you post the published 08 numbers for this service?

sherbert wrote on Mar 9^th, 2011 at 4:31pm:

Which is for Northern Ireland residents as it's on www.nidirect.gov.uk

Just for clarification - the Pensions Service, which includes the Pensions Forecasting team is part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), not "Inland Revenue", which is now part of Her Majesties Revenue and Customs (HMRC), a "non-ministerial department".

Pensions are a reserved matter, dealt with for the UK as a whole. The same Forecasting team therefore covers Northern Ireland - see http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/contacts/contacts-az/state-pension-forecasting-....

Those who are some years away from retirement age may wish to view this link for relevant information - http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/ministers-speeches/2011/08-03-11.shtml. Given that no government may tie its successors, some see state pension forecasts as a worse scam than use of 0845 numbers!

sherbert wrote on Mar 9^th, 2011 at 5:09pm:

Indeed, Government Gateway and direct.gov work across departments and cover other central government bodies.

sherbert wrote on Mar 9^th, 2011 at 6:54pm:

This is presumably a reference to the age-old debate about where the dividing line between what is presently DWP and HMRC should fall.

The former Contributions Agency (part of DWP) was passed over to "Inland Revenue" (now part of HMRC), although DWP agencies still conduct part of the NI number application process and administer contribution-based benefits. The current hot debate is over "tax credits" which, as means-tested benefits, should perhaps be handled alongside the other DWP benefits agencies, rather than by HMRC, which is focused on collecting money rather than distributing it.

Had the Identity Register project gone ahead then it is likely that the NI number would have eventually ceased to occupy its current place as the primary personal identifying reference for some government agencies. Happily, we can leave the "Identity and Passport Service", an executive agency of the Home Office, out of the picture. Even though it retains its name, and 0300 numbers, it has lost its nominal primary function. We still have Passport numbers, NHS numbers, Driver numbers and many other references by which government agencies identify us.

For me, there is sadly little difference between DWP and HMRC. Although the former uses "free to caller" 0800 numbers for lengthy initial application calls, both have an exclusive 0845 numbering policy for enquiries. Attempts to undermine this do however continue (see this weighty attempt).