§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide his latest estimate of the total cost to (a) the borough councils in Greater London, and (b) all United Kingdom local authorities of complying with the Data Protection Act.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe estimate given during the passage of the Data Protection Bill indicated that £9 million to £11 million might be incurred by local authorities and public bodies in implementation costs in each of the first two years, with running costs at around £13 million in the first full year of operation, reducing thereafter. Estimates of likely costs to individual local authorities are not available centrally and could not be obtained without disproportionate expense.