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Second Reading deferred till Friday 5 May.
Motion made and Question proposed,
That, at the sitting on 14th March, Standing Order No. 55 (Questions on voting of estimates, &c.) shall apply as if the words '(aa) supplementary votes on account for the coming financial year;' were inserted after line 21.
Hon. Members:
Object.
Birth Certificates
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. Kevin Hughes.]
2.31 pm
Mr. Russell Brown (Dumfries): I am pleased to have the opportunity to raise this vital matter in the House today. The title of the debate on the Order Paper may be slightly misleading as there is no such thing as a fraudulent application for a birth certificate. The debate relates to the potential for fraudulent activities thereafter. I am sure that there is some concern in another Government Department about whether the responsibility for replying to the debate rested with that Department or with my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, who appears to have drawn the short straw.
My concern today centres around an issue that was highlighted--although not for the first time--by a television programme just over four weeks ago. It was a Granada production called "Tonight with Trevor McDonald". It was a short story entitled "Identity Crisis".
The programme showed how easy it was to obtain a copy of a birth certificate of a child who had died in infancy, generally within weeks or even hours of being born, and how that birth certificate was used fraudulently to obtain a passport and thereby a new identity.
It is worth pointing out that in England and Wales the Government Department responsible for administering the laws relating to marriage and the national health service central register is the Office for National Statistics, whereas in Scotland the Registrar-General is responsible for the recording of births, deaths and marriages.
The programme showed how a team of undercover reporters, posing as a gang smuggling illegal immigrants into the United Kingdom, answered an advertisement in the International Herald Tribune which was offering genuine British passports for sale at $17,500. Such documentation would be more than helpful if an illegal immigrant was trying to avoid the risk of deportation.
At a meeting with the fraudster, it was explained to the undercover reporters how easy it would be to provide them with a genuine passport, and within a very short time the same fraudster was able to provide a new passport and thereby a new identification to an arranged address.
Within days of the programme having been broadcast, my constituent, Alec Little, visited my office. He explained to me that the programme had been an extremely upsetting experience for him as the team of fraudsters had acquired a passport and a new identity for one of the undercover reporters which turned out to be that of his late nephew, James Alexander Patterson, who had died at the age of 11 weeks. Young James Alexander Patterson had been born on the day of my constituent's wedding and had died in the early hours of Christmas day.
Mr. Little went on to say, quite naturally, that something has to be done. How ironic that Frederick Forsyth, in his book "The Day of the Jackal", portrayed the scam almost 30 years ago, yet here we are in 2000 and the problem still exists and has the potential to continue for many years.
The indexes of births, deaths and marriages maintained by the Registrar-General may be searched by the public without charge. They contain alphabetical lists of the
names of the parties, the registration district and the location of the entry in the register. However, as the registers are not public records, there is no facility for members of the public to search them. Copies of individual entries in the register may be bought by any member of the public who pays the appropriate fee and is able to identify the record that they require. There is no requirement for anyone purchasing a certificate to prove a connection with the person or the family to whom the certificate relates.
The issuing of birth certificates that are then used fraudulently was commented on in the previous Government's Green and White Papers on the registration services. They considered the problem to be sufficiently serious to suggest that access to recent registration documents should be limited to those who had legitimate reason for wanting them, for example by requiring all applicants to furnish prescribed particulars about the entry, including date and place of birth, father's name and surname and mother's name, surname and maiden name. It was realised that it would be impossible to eradicate totally the misuse of records by determined criminals.
The 1990 White Paper included a chapter on the responses to the 1988 Green Paper and set out proposals for access to registration records, as the Green Paper had met with little approval from consultees. Many of the White Paper's recommendations have been implemented by administrative action or changes to existing secondary or primary legislation. I appreciate that primary legislation would be required to change the conditions of access to registration records. Nothing has been done to restrict access to date.
The Government made a manifesto commitment to crack down on the fraudulent use of birth certificates. Last autumn, the Office for National Statistics issued a consultation document on the whole registration service. I am delighted that the issue of access to registration records was discussed, but I am disappointed that no definite proposals to counteract fraud were made.
The debate throws up a complex question about identity and how we tackle the problem in the new world of information technology and e-commerce. How will citizens prove their identity in the future? Will there be a central database that someone logs us on to when we come into the world? As we progress through life, perhaps into marriage and contact with Government Departments and bodies such as the Inland Revenue, the Benefits Agency or the UK Passport Agency, adjustments could be made to our personal data, the final entry being the only guarantee in life--death itself.
It may seem fanciful, but many see an easy answer to the problem of the fraudulent use of birth certificates, particularly in the tragic circumstances that we are considering, in a computer entry registering the death being cross-linked to the registration of birth. That would flag up a warning if someone attempted to use that identity in the future. I apologise if that oversimplifies a possible solution.
Even bolder than "The Day of the Jackal" fraudsters--if that is possible--are those involved in what is called piggy-back fraud, which means using the identity of someone who is still alive. "Tonight with Trevor McDonald" was critical of the UK Passport Agency and
said that, despite a £120 million investment in a new computer system, there had been little improvement in combating fraud. I am pleased to hear that the new system in operation at the UK Passport Agency manages to avoid piggy-back fraud.
I mentioned that little seems to have happened since Frederick Forsyth's novel was written. My research and contact with Government Departments indicates that measures have been taken to deal with the problem, but the problem still exists, and who knows how many birth certificates some of the fraudsters may well be sitting on?
Yesterday's report by Lord Grabiner on the informal economy--or the black or hidden economy, as it can be called--revealed a London organisation of bogus companies, specialising in large-scale benefit, mortgage and property fraud, smuggling illegal immigrants and cocaine dealing. Investigators found evidence of 500 fraudulent benefit applications worth £4 million, 50 cases of fraudulent false identities and more than 40 claims for child benefit, supported by counterfeit and false identity documents.
The issue of identity is far reaching and can be tackled only with an integrated cross-Government approach. I believe that moves to achieve that are under way. Lord Grabiner says:
Indications are that UK Passport Agency staff are being even more scrupulous, and that those responsible for registration are scrutinising applications for certificates. Above all, there is a strong working relationship with the authorities responsible for enforcement.
For the last 10 years, the register in Scotland has been moving to computerised registration and recording. In England and Wales, the records have been on computer since 1993, but that still leaves 300 million records on paper. I fully accept that what lies ahead will not be easy and that there is no way that we are likely to see those 300 million records being put on computer.
I hope that the Minister is aware of the concern that the matter has generated. The television programme contained comments such as:
I recommend that whether the solution is stricter control over the issue of birth certificates or tighter checks on their use, this is a problem that needs to be tackled.
It is strange that I have an Adjournment debate on the subject one day after that report has been issued.
The oldest trick in the book,
and one parent classed the activity as "sick". The story has brought back sad memories to a number of families, and none of us really knows how many people are wandering our streets with the false identity of a loved one who was taken so early in life. For my constituent Alec Little, it was an upsetting experience, but I know that he will be relieved that his late nephew's identity was not passed on to be used in some fraudulent activity.
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