There could be no more telling indictment of the cynicism, incompetence and Byzantine bureaucracy engulfing immigration policy than the revelation that Jobcentres have been issuing illegal immigrants with national insurance numbers even if they know that the application is fraudulent. The admission is as astonishing as it is blatant. An internal memorandum said that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), once satisfied about an individual’s identity, routinely issued a national insurance number “even if we have suspicions around his immigration status” and even if the applicant is thought to have falsified entries in a passport. And despite warnings six years ago that this must stop, it is still going on. What better example could there be of the failure of “joined-up government”?

It is not simply a case, appalling as it is, of institutional indolence in not reviewing a system in place since 1948; it is an almost culpable shirking of responsibility at a time when the Government has been struggling to combat illegal immigration. The DWP argues that a national insurance number in itself confers no right on the holder to get a job and that the onus is on employers to clarify an applicant’s status. The collection of tax (through an NI number) is a worthy cause, but if an individual is presumed to have falsified documentation, there is surely a suspicion that this person will avoid paying taxes. We honour hard-working immigrants, but would prefer that they are not proven fibbers.

The official response to this rather bizarre situation is that the DWP is not in the business of initiating prosecutions — that is the job of the Home Office. It insists that it passes on all suspect cases. But 200,000–300,000 numbers are issued to foreigners annually, and in only 2,000 cases are immigration checks carried out. And the Home Office, which appears to have almost no accurate statistical data, admits that it has “no figures” for prosecutions.

The DWP argues lamely that issuing numbers to illegal immigrants at least ensures that they pay tax and that some track can be kept of their whereabouts. This is as absurd as arguing that a gun dealer should issue a licence to anyone buying a gun even though he knows that the purchase of handguns is prohibited. Neither gun crime nor illegal employment can be curbed by the theoretical knowledge of someone’s address.

The revelation is yet further evidence of how government departments are unable or unwilling to change their practices even when they know that these conflict with the goals of other departments. The yardstick of success that the DWP sets for itself is how many people can be added to the country’s taxable base and how swiftly they can be incorporated into the state pension scheme. The yardstick of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate is — or ought to be — how swiftly those not entitled to stay in Britain, including visitors who overstay their visa, can be bid farewell. The two goals are often incompatible.

Has no senior official had the wit to look at the reasons why illegal immigrants are able to obtain work? And if so, is it not clear that turning a blind eye to the confusion over legal and illegal employment — because low-paid workers fill such a vital role in the economy — simply encourages more illegal immigrants to come to Britain? It is not only the Home Office that is proving to be “not fit for purpose”.