Report - Guardian

The LSE Identity Project Report: June 2005 107fraction of the benefit fraud problem, but calculated that £50 million came from peoplenot being who they said they were when making a claim. In 2002 David Blunkettadvised Parliament “benefit fraud is only a tiny part of the problem in the benefitsystem”. 290It is certainly credible that an identity card scheme would assist with this type of fraud,since the DWP is a government department and therefore likely to have access to theequipment necessary to cross-check an identity card with the national identity database.Immigration and Nationality Department – Home OfficeThe Home Office estimates for immigration costs due to fraudulent documents need tobe made a little more explicit. The figures given are:Table 3 - Home Office Accounting of Identity TheftNumber of fraudulent documents found each month at 50Heathrow Terminal 3Estimate of detection rate 10%Estimate of actual number of entrants with fraudulent 50 x 10documents passing through T3 each month= 500Estimate of actual number of entrants with fraudulent 500 x 12documents passing through T3 each year= 6000Estimate potential cost of each clandestine entrant £6000Estimate total cost of clandestine entrants passing through T3 £6000 x 6000each year= £36 millionWe have no explanation of the Home Office’s estimate of £6000 per clandestine entrant,nor for the estimate of a 10% detection rate, but they appear reasonable. To what extentis the introduction of a UK identity card going to solve these immigration problems?- Almost by definition, these clandestine entrants will be foreign nationals whowould not be carrying UK identity card.- A foreign national wanting to gain access to the UK with fraudulent documentscould easily do so by using a fraudulent identity document from another EUcountry. As an ‘EU national’, he would be granted entry into the UK and alsoaccorded the normal rights of any EU citizen in another EU country, includingaccess to many government services.The UK identity card can have little or no impact here.Association of Payment Clearing ServicesAccording to the Cabinet Office report, in 2001, “losses due to counterfeit cards, lostand stolen cards, and card not present fraud cost the card issuers around £370m.” Wewill leave aside for now the issue of whether credit card amounts to identity fraud or isreally simple theft. When discussing identity fraud or theft, credit card fraud is what290 House of Commons, Hansard debates, July 3, 2002, Column 230, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/cgibin/ukparl_hl?DB=ukparl&URL=/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020703/debtext/20703-05.htm.