Keith is an unlikely candidate for Big Brother. He has close-cropped hair, a reassuring voice and occasional problems getting his headset to work.

But Keith, and his computer, are listening very carefully. They are at the forefront of the Government’s drive to employ lie detectors in the long-fought war against benefit fraud.

Keith’s battleground is a council call centre in Harrow Civic Centre, North London, which is using a pilot project using lie detector technology – those involved would rather call it “voice-risk analysis” – to assess claimants for housing and council-tax benefits.

Earlier this week the council reported that the trial had saved £336,711 in its first seven months. If the success continues, it may soon prompt the Department for Work and Pensions to introduce voice-risk analysis technology across the country.

Keith is cheerful as he calls his first claimant of the day, quietly investigating the man’s domestic circumstances and financial situation.

One box on Keith’s computer screen transforms that person’s voice into wave form, another flashes “LR”, meaning low risk. Before long, however, that message changes to “HR HR HR HR HR”.

It also states, “Possible mistake?” The claimant may have given inaccurate information but the system thinks it might have been an honest mistake. After about 15 minutes of probing, Keith hangs up, and decides he will send a letter requesting more information. The jury is out.

Between them, Harrow’s team of five handlers get through 16 such calls a day, reviewing existing cases and screening new applicants. They are prearranged by an administrator, and benefits are temporarily suspended if claimants fail to pick up the phone during their booked two-hour slot. Of the almost 1,000 people who went through the system in the first seven months, 43 were identified as making false claims.

The first call of the day made by another handler, Jasu, might make that 44. The long-term claimant she telephones is repeatedly identified as “HR” during the call, and this time the computer shows no sign of offering the benefit of the doubt. The woman’s voice forms spikey on-screen waves and prompts the “Quick Profiler” underneath to say, “Risk indicated!” With the questions completed, she ranks at the red end of a traffic light spectrum of suspiciousness. Janu tells her to send in more details.

Capita, the company behind the technology, believes the system could replace some of the other safeguards in the benefits system, reducing paper-work and speeding the process Not everybody is so sure. Despite its introduction into the British insurance industry in 2001, use of voice-risk recognition analysis remains the “exception rather than the norm”, according to the Association of British Insurers. “Companies that use it tend to do so along with other methods,” said a spokeswoman.

Unison, the trade union that has members working in local government call centres, also has concerns. “Completing a claim for benefits can be stressful enough, so there is a high possibility that this test would be inaccurate”, a spokeswoman said . “This could lead to vulnerable people being left out in the cold. Our members are not police, they are there to ensure people get the benefits they are entitled to.”

Keith and Jasu, two experienced benefits officers, emphasise that the computer is not all-powerful. Both make notes, recording their thoughts on claimants’ behaviour and listing points to follow up. It is only later, if the claimant fails to satisfy the handler, that fraud investigators step in.

They both say that knowing the technology is in place has made claimants more forthcoming with their changes of circumstances.Jasu said: “Sometimes they say ‘stop my benefits’, or ‘my partner is moving in so I won’t be claiming”.

Councillor Paul Osborn, chief of strategy and business support at Harrow Council, says that the system means quicker benefits and transparency. “We hope to get further funding from the DWP to continue using the technology after April, but will lobby hard to make sure that Harrow gets value for money from the savings we are making for the Government”.

He said that the response from Harrow’s benefits claimants had been positive. “I think something like 90 or 95 per cent are very happy with it.”

Call signs

— Thousands of calculations analyse any changes in voice frequency for stress

— If a high level of risk is assessed, the system alerts the handlers

— They can then ask further questions, or make a note to follow up on a point

— The technology can take account of dialect, speech impediments and whether English is a person’s first language

Source: Capita

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