GOVERNMENT CHILD BENEFIT DATA DISASTER PUTS SECURITY OF 31,000 CHILDREN IN ST ALBANS DISTRICT AT RISK

12.00.00am GMT Mon 26th Nov 2007

• nearly 17,000 local families affected

"More than 30,000 local children and their parents have been exposed to risk as a result of the Treasury's incompetence with child benefit data," said Sandy Walkington, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for St Albans.

The most recent data from the Office of National Statistics shows 16,860 households in St Albans district receiving child benefit in respect of 31,070 children .

"Of course we do not know whether this data has got into the wrong hands - and we may not know for years if criminal elements are simply sitting on the information until the fuss dies down.

"I am furious that information about my children, my wife and myself has gone missing who knows where," Sandy said, "and my fury will be shared by everyone else affected.

"The Government has lectured us all on computer security, and then cannot meet the most basic standards itself. It is simply outrageous that the Chancellor did not resign straight away. He may not have been personally responsible but he is certainly accountable, and to try to pin the blame on a junior official is shameful.

"St Albans is a prosperous community. Clearly the financial and personal data of local residents will be of above average interest to the criminal fraternity."

"I wonder whether all those affected should not be issued with new national insurance numbers by the Government. We can also go through the palaver of changing our bank details with all the difficulties of changing standing orders, direct debits and so on. But we can't change our names, birth dates or indeed places of residence. And if criminals have the information but wait several years before using it as has been suggested they might, the Government will almost certainly escape the blame for misuse of bank data and any liability for compensation. In fact the Government is currently profiteering because the Child Benefit inquiry lines are charged at premium rates.

"This disaster also shows why plans for Identity Cards must be scrapped immediately," Sandy continued. "The National Identity Register, which the Government is setting up as part of the Identity Card scheme, will hold vastly more information on each and every one of us than Revenue and Customs managed to lose.

"It is clear that the Government cannot be trusted effectively to manage mass databases of personal information.

"The Liberal Democrats opposed Identity Cards when the scheme went through Parliament, while the Conservatives wobbled. The former Conservative leader Michael Howard supported ID cards. We have always said the scheme will be expensive, misguided, insecure and most importantly an attack on civil liberties. This latest debacle shows just what is at risk," Sandy concluded.

Ends

The most recent Office of National Statistics data on child benefit recipients in St Albans district can be accessed here:

http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276995&c=AL1+3RR&d=27&e=4&g=455250&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1196012293953&enc=1&dsFamilyId=215