Ministers are studying plans to install the new technology to help public sector workers in areas vulnerable to fraud such as tax, benefits and immigration.

The detectors — which pick out lies by measuring stress levels in the voice — are already used by insurance companies to spot false claims.

Several government departments are in negotiations with Capita, the IT firm, which has bought the rights to distribute the detectors within the public sector. A Whitehall source said: “There are consultations going on between Capita and several government departments. This technology is expected to be in widespread use in the public sector by the end of the year.”

Last week the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed that it was studying the use of the technology to weed out fraudulent benefit claims. Chris Pond, a minister at the DWP, said: “We are in the early stages of conducting preliminary investigations into how voice stress analysis technology is currently used in the private sector.”

If the results of the DWP’s study are positive, the Inland Revenue, Home Office and Criminal Records Bureau are likely to try out the technology this year.

Several insurance firms have been using the lie detectors for the past year and have recorded a 20% fall in fraudulent claims, saving them tens of millions of pounds.

By monitoring stress levels, the “voice risk analyser” — developed in Israel for use by secret service agents — differs from traditional lie detectors, which measure sweat.

The machine assesses a caller’s response to straightforward questions, such as their name and address, which it uses to analyse their normal voice pattern. It then detects whether this pattern alters when the person is asked a more direct question on a subject such as whether a benefit claim is genuine. It claims to be able to screen out people who are nervous or stressed from those that are lying.

Claims by people who are judged to be lying are then subjected to more rigorous investigations. The insurers have found that many suspect claims are dropped as soon as concerns are raised.

The system is being used by at least five insurers, including Halifax, Axa and Highway Insurance. Other firms, including banks assessing loan applications, recruitment companies and even dating agencies, are understood to be planning to use the new system.

The introduction of the technology, which is prohibited in several countries, is likely to be opposed by privacy campaigners. Studies carried out by American universities have questioned whether the reliability of its results.

An investigation by the US Air Force research laboratory concluded that the voice-based lie detectors “do recognise stress through voice analysis; however, although these systems state they detect deception, it was not proven”.

The project is being masterminded by Rod Aldridge, the chief executive of Capita, who is very close to Labour ministers. He believes the technology has huge potential. Benefit fraud is estimated to cost the DWP alone £3 billion a year.

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