We asked HMRC what it is doing to correct the National Insurance record so that DWP can in turn make any back payments of State Pension. HMRC explained that it no longer holds the relevant records and that identifying all of the people who may be 25 Committee of Public Accounts, The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in the benefit system, Twenty-Sixth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 44, 9 November 2022 26 DWP ARA 2022–23, page 273 27 Department for Work & Pensions, Annual Report & Accounts 2021–22, HC193, 7 July 2022, pages 234, 291 28 Qq 36–37; DWP ARA 2022–23, pages 122–124 29 Committee of Public Accounts, The Department for Work and Pensions’ Accounts 2021–22 – Fraud and error in the benefit system, Twenty-Sixth Report of Session 2022–23, HC 44, 9 November 2022 30 Q 50 31 DWP ARA 2022–23, page 292 32 DWP ARA 2022–23, page 292 33 Q 22 14 The Department for Work & Pensions Annual Report and Accounts 2022–23 impacted is “a big problem, and quite a challenging one”. It told us it is performing various scans of its IT systems to find a potential cohort of affected people.34 HMRC intends to write to this group, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands, saying it believes they may have been eligible for HRP and invite them to make a claim.35 Where HMRC believes there is a legitimate claim, it will correct the NI record and notify DWP so any back payments of State Pension can be made.36