5.30 pm. 20.11.07. - TENS of thousands of families personal information in North Somerset has been lost by the Government.
TENS of thousands of families' personal information in North Somerset has been lost by the Government.
Information about families who claim child benefits in Weston have been lost after a junior Government official posted information about 7million families through the post.
The records include parents' and children's names, addresses, dates of birth, child benefit and national insurance numbers and in some cases, bank or building society details.
According to the latest Office for National Statistics information (as at August 2005), 22,635 families in North Somerset were in receipt of child benefit payments for 40,550 children.
Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate, Mike Bell, said: "This shocking lapse should condemn any idea that Britain should have a national ID database to the rubbish bin - the government simply cannot be trusted with our information.
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