from the DWP @ http://www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/news/

National Insurance Recording System upgrade – effect on DWP services

New customers may experience slight disruption to our services in June as a result of an upgrade to HMRC's National Insurance Recording System. Our staff often access the NIRS database to help process certain contribution based benefits such as Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and the state pension.

The system will be unavailable to DWP staff between noon on 19 June until noon on 24 June (within HMRC it will be down for longer). During this time current customers should be unaffected, but new JSA and ESA customers will be asked to provide their P60 (annual pay statement) so that staff can establish details of their National Insurance records and assess their entitlement to benefit. Where someone is not able to provide a P60 they may be asked for wage slips or full details of previous employment so that we can write to their employer for the information. Other than the customer being asked to provide their P60 during this period there should be no other changes to our services.

Existing payments of pensions will not be affected and state pension applications and changes can still be made, however online pension forecasting will not be available for the period of the disruption. This service will still be available on telephone at 0845 3000168.

The system, once upgraded, will provide a much more efficient service to both our customers and HMRC's. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.