Public belief that the government'sNational
Identity Schemewill deliver its claimed
benefits is weak, according to apollconducted for the Identity &
Passport Office.
The poll of more than 2,000 British adults was conducted in
October 2007, a month before the news broke of
HM Revenue & Customs' loss of the personal details of 25
million child benefits claimants.
Respondents saw the potential role of the NIS in fighting
terrorism, crime and fraud as most important, it said. Six out of
10 respondents were in favour of it.
Even so, "Across the board, full buy-in and belief in the
scheme's ability to deliver the proposed benefits is weak," it
said.
Fewer than three in 10 respondents found any of the eight main
proposed benefits of the system "very believable". People had most
confidence in the scheme's ability to make it easier for police to
trace suspects and to ensure that people in positions of trust
(e.g. nannies, school and care workers) were who they said they
were.
Six out of 10 said the most likely benefits were to protect
people against identity fraud, to stop illegal immigrants from
finding work in the UK, and to make it easier for police to trace
and identify suspects.
Compared to a
similar IPS poll in February 2007, overall awareness of the NIS
was down slightly (86% vs 91%). It was particularly low amongst
young adults (68%) and ethnic minorities (70%). Those who knew of
the scheme also knew it involves recording biometric details, but
there was some confusion as to what this actually meant.
Asked why the government wanted to introduce the NIS, people
said it was to prevent illegal immigration (32%, up from 23% in
February), to make it easier to identify people, and to prevent
fraud. Disrupting terrorists was fifth, making it easier to
identify yourself was seventh, and stopping benefit fraud was
ninth.
Four of 10 respondents were split evenly against the scheme or
had no opinion. Objectors said it would infringe their personal
freedom (33%), not work (25%) and would be too expensive or a waste
of money (24%).