Private details of EVERY family in Britain 'lost' by taxman in major security blunder
Names and addresses of 25m UK children among the missing data
The Chancellor was rocked by a new crisis this evening over the loss of confidential bank details of virtually every family in Britain.
Alistair Darling had to make an emergency statement to the Commons revealing that records of 7.2 million bank accounts of all parents or guardians who claim child benefits had gone missing.
MPs gasped when he revealed that the names, addresses, bank numbers and National Insurance numbers of all those affected had been on two computer discs which had been lost.
A total of 25 million people's names are on the discs, potentially leaving them all at risk of identity fraud.
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Alistair Darling in Parliament today admitting the huge blunder affecting 25 million UK residents
- Britain's most senior taxman, Paul Gray, quit his £170,000-a-year job as head of HM Customs and Revenue in the wake of the Treasury blunder.
Mr Darling, forced to defend his handling of the Northern Rock collapse yesterday, addressed MPs again as he apologised for the “extremely serious failure” and urged the public to check their accounts.
Mr Darling said he recognised that millions of families will be “concerned about what has happened”, but added: “There is no evidence that this data has reached the wrong hands, there is no evidence of fraud or criminal activity. No one will suffer any loss if they are a victim of fraud”.
The two discs, which are encrypted, were sent by couriers TNT from offices in Washington, Tyne & Wear, but it did not arrive at the National Audit Office in London.
The package was not recorded or registered.
Breach: Former HM Customs and Revenue Chairman Paul Gray with Gordon Brown
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said that the error had been one of the biggest ever failures of competence by a Government.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman said that the Treasury had now replaced the Home Office as the Government department that was most “unfit for purpose”.
He asked why ministers were not resigning as well as the head of the HMRC. The news was part of a triple blow to Mr Darling as Northern Rock's shares went into freefall and new figures showed disappointing public finances.
Mr Darling revealed that there was an “increased risk” caused by the loss and warned the public to monitor their accounts for any suspicious activity.
Under pressure: Chancellor Alistair Darling
The banks have advised that people do not need to change their PIN numbers or bank numbers but should be wary of anyone asking for their details.
Mr Darling said that there was no need for those claiming child benefit to worry about their payments because the discs were copies of the original data.
The police were called in when the discs were found to be missing. Metropolitan Police officers have searched a child benefit office in Washington, sources said.
A spokesman for the force said: “We have got officers in the area assisting with inquiries in connection with the missing child benefit data.”
It is believed that ministers have known about the errors for more than a week and are expected to face questions as to why they failed to reveal details until today.
Mr Darling added that the Information Commissioner Richard Thomas had told him that he should not go public with the revelation until he was sure that “appropriate remedial action” was taken to protect confidential data details.
The Prime Minister said he had “full confidence” in Mr Darling despite the benefits records blunder, Gordon Brown's spokeswoman said.
HM Customs and Revenue, an arm of the Treasury, came under fire this month when it emerged that it had lost the records of 15,000 taxpayers linked to Standard Life's pension fund. It is understood that the data on the two child benefit discs has been lost rather than stolen.
Mr Gray, 59, a career civil servant, was appointed by Gordon Brown as executive chairman of the HMRC this year.
But he has faced heavy criticism over the tax credits fiasco where millions of poorer families have been forced to repay big sums thanks to administrative errors.
Tory sources today suspected that Mr Gray was being made a scapegoat over the tax credits issue as well as the child benefit data loss. In a statement today he said: “I am announcing today that I will be standing down as a result of a substantial operational failure in the department. This is not the way I would have planned to organise my departure."
Private details of EVERY family in Britain 'lost' by taxman in major security blunder | the Daily Mail
Private details of EVERY family in Britain 'lost' by taxman in major security blunder
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