I am flattered by the suggestion. However, whether it is done by me, an official or anyone else, it is a slightly strange way of formulating an offence.
I respectfully ask: where is the gap? The Fraud Act 2006 already includes offences that would apply to anyone who assumes a false or non-existent identity to commit fraud. In particular, Section 2 sets out the crime of fraud by false representation, which would cover a person pretending to be someone else for the purpose of making a gain for himself or another.
While identity theft is not in itself a criminal offence, the use of a false identity for the purposes of fraud is. As drafted, the amendment would apply to innocent persons who were able to represent a relative or partner when conducting financial or domestic affairs on their behalf with permission from the identity-holder. The noble Lord cast some scorn on the example I gave in Committee of collecting a parcel on behalf of someone else. I accept that no sane prosecutor or police officer would take that matter further. None the less, it is alarming to think that that could constitute a criminal offence, albeit one that one would not expect the police or the prosecution to pursue.
I assure the House that the Government take identity crime extremely seriously. I should like to remind the House of some of the initiatives being pursued to prevent identity crime. We are working with banks and credit card companies to promote technical solutions to identity theft to help the victims of such crimes. We are also working with credit reference agencies to provide a free service for anyone who has had their personal details used fraudulently. The credit reference agencies liaise with each other and the banks to restore compromised personal credit records. The service can be accessed by contacting Experian, Equifax or Call Credit. The Home Office is also leading a multi-agency strategic group formed to reduce the threat to the UK. The group is engaged in a range of activities to tackle the problem, such as strengthening the issuing process for government documents, tackling the supply of specialist printing equipment for criminal purposes, improving data sharing of false identities and taking down websites offering false documents for sale.
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There is also a national policing identity crime champion. The City of London Police is leading this work and is currently developing an identity crime strategic threat assessment, working closely with the National Crime Agency. We also want to learn more about the scale of this issue, and identity crime trends over time, through the Crime Survey for England and
Wales. This is particularly important given rapid developments in technology. We therefore conclude that the current legal framework is sufficient to deal with the theft and fraudulent use of identity. Of course, we bear in mind that things change rapidly. Many of the factors drawn to the House’s attention by the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, will be part of the analysis that takes place. Although these issues continue to be addressed, I specifically do not undertake to bring back this matter at Third Reading, or to entertain that it should be. We suggest, for the reasons I have given, that there is no case at the moment for the creation of a new offence, and therefore I ask that the amendment be withdrawn.
Lord Beecham: My Lords, I had rather anticipated that disappointing response. Again, the Minister has concentrated entirely on the issue of fraud. The problem goes beyond that and into other areas of life. Frankly, some of the arguments he deployed were perfectly capable of being dealt with in properly drafted legislation and I am disappointed that he cannot see a case to answer on those matters. However, as it is clear that the Government are not going to be co-operative on this, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.