£20000 Reward For Lost Inland Revenue Data!

The government today offered a £20,000 reward for the safe return of two missing CDs containing personal details of half the British population.

The  Metropolitan Police, which has been heading the search for the data, has asked thousands of government workers to check their desks and homes "in case the package or discs have turned up"..............

Alistair Darling has blamed mistakes by junior officials at HM Revenue and Customs after details of 25 million child benefit recipients were lost.

The Chancellor said information, including bank details of 7m families, had been sent on discs to the National Audit office by unrecorded delivery.

Mr Darling said it was "an extremely serious failure".

The banks have said the missing data is not enough to access accounts on its own and there is no evidence of fraud.

The resignation of Mr Gray was accepted because disks were transported in breach of rules governing data protection.

The Inland Revenue collects taxes and other government receipts worth about £400bn a year, as well as administering benefits and tax credits, which require it to process large amounts of personal data..........

The chancellor told MPs the information went missing after a junior official in the department failed to follow standard procedures and sent a "full copy of the data" to the NAO by courier - not by recorded or registered mail.

When it became clear the discs had not arrived, the same official sent the information again - this time by registered post.
The first set of data was sent on October 18, and senior management at HMRC was told it was missing on November 8. The chancellor said he found out 10 days ago...............

The Metropolitan Police are "making inquiries" into the blunder and Alistair Darling has made a statement to the Commons.

The missing discs contain personal data including the names, National Insurance and bank details of millions of child benefit recipients.

In a letter to HMRC staff, Mr Gray said: "I am announcing today that I will be standing down as HMRC Chairman as a result of a substantial operational failure in the Department...........

Gray, a career civil servant and economist, was appointed deputy chairman of HMRC in September 2006 and his position as chief was made permanent in February.

The tax authority has already taken a lot of criticism in recent years for its handling of tax credits and VAT fraud..........

Metropolitan Police officers have searched a child benefit office in Washington, Tyne and Wear, 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."

HMRC was created by the merger of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise at a time when the Treasury was demanding thousands of staff cuts, and has been under "immense pressure", said Mr Fallon.

Unions have repeatedly warned that the job losses would hit the department's ability to function properly...............

The Chancellor announced that the chairman of Price Waterhouse Coopers Company and the Independent Police Complaints Commission will investigate HMRC's security practices.
He insisted that "no unusual activity" has come to light since the information disappeared......

Around 15,000 Standard Life customers could be at risk of fraud after their personal details were lost by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
The data was on a CD sent from the Revenue office in Newcastle to the company's headquarters in Edinburgh.
But the disc containing names, national insurance numbers, dates of birth and pension data never arrived at its intended destination.
HMRC and Standard Life have warned those at risk to be "vigilant"................