§ 46. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to the reply of the Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Wallasey (Mrs. Chalker) on 9 March, whether he will investigate how the name and address in the case of the self-confessed drug addict, which has been supplied to his Department on two occasions, has been mislaid; and if he will make a statement on the action taken by his Department.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe name and address of the person in question have not been mislaid. When I replied to the hon. Member's question on 9 March—[Vol. 1000, c.253]—his letter of 7 March 1981 giving the information relating to the person had not been received in the Department. It arrived on 10 March and I have since written to the hon. Member.
I am not prepared to make a statement about the individual case to which the question refers. It is our policy not to disclose personal information obtained in the course of claims for benefit without the consent of the person concerned, except in closely defined circumstances, for example, to assist the police in the investigation of serious crime. In this we follow the practice of previous Administrations. This principle does not, of course, apply to an hon. Member acting on behalf of a claimant in connection with his own case.