Counterfeiting (Hansard, 1 March 2004)

§ Mr. Evans
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have been arrested for producing counterfeit £1 coins. [156985]

§ Ruth Kelly
This is a matter for the law enforcement agencies and not for the Treasury or the Royal Mint. However, the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) has recently informed us that 63 persons were arrested for counterfeit coin possession and production in England and Wales since 1997.

§ Mr. Evans
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what additional security measures are being considered for new batches of £1 coins to tackle problems of counterfeit coins. [156986]
707W

§ Ruth Kelly
The only effective option would be to introduce a new £1 coin. However, at present, given the very low incidence of counterfeit £1 coins by international monetary standards, it would not present a good value for money case to replace the existing coin.

§ Mr. Evans
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has identified the source or sources of counterfeit £1 coins. [156987]

§ Ruth Kelly
This is a matter for the law enforcement agencies and not for the Treasury or the Royal Mint.

§ Mr. Evans
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what advice he has given to businesses to help them identify counterfeit £1 coins. [156988]

§ Ruth Kelly
As far as HM Treasury and the Royal Mint are aware, there is no evidence to suggest that businesses would benefit from Government advice on how to identify counterfeits.

§ Mr. Evans
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps are being taken to reduce the number of counterfeit £1 coins in circulation. [156989]

§ Ruth Kelly
The only effective action HM Treasury and the Royal Mint could take is to replace the £1 coin. Any level of counterfeiting must be a matter of concern but, given the Royal Mint's recent estimate of the incidence of £1 counterfeit coins to be less than 1 per cent. and anecdotal evidence from cash handlers suggesting a figure even less than this, this is considered to be well within the level generally tolerated by monetary authorities across the world and does not provide a value for money case for replacing the £1 coin.

§ Mr. Evans
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the number of counterfeit £1 coins in circulation in the UK. [156990]

§ Ruth Kelly
The Royal Mint conducts annual surveys to establish the incidence of £1 counterfeit coins. The most recent survey in December 2003 indicated a counterfeit rate of just under 1 per cent.—almost identical to the previous year's results. Anecdotal evidence from cash handlers suggests that the real level of counterfeits may be substantially lower.