TheIdentity
and Passport Servicecaught more than 9,000
fraudulent attempts to get a British passport, it said in
itsannual reportthis week.
IPS chief executive James Hall said the 9,382 fraud attempts
were up on last year's 7,030. He said 0.25% of all applications are
fraudulent.
"The IPS target was to reduce our level of unprevented
application fraud to below 0.15% of all passport applications. For
2007/08, unprevented fraud was 0.09% of all applications," he
said.
Hall said highlights of the year included the issuing of 5.9
million passports, the opening of a national network of 68
interview offices that conducted more than 144,000 face-to-face
interviews with adults applying for their first passport, and the
publication of the
National
Identity Strategy delivery plan in March.
"The NIS will require significant engagement with both public
and private sector partners to ensure its delivery, and a programme
of stakeholder consultation is well underway," he said.
In May, the
IPS appointed five suppliers under a framework contract to
compete for subcontracts to supply elements of the NIS.