§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the data matching activities of(a) the Audit Commission and (b) local authorities in respect of benefit fraud with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998; what representations he or the Commission have received on this subject; and if he will make a statement. [119526]
§ Ms Beverley HughesIt is the responsibility of the independent Audit Commission and local authorities to ensure that their data-matching activities conform to Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998. The Commission's legal advice is that the data-matching techniques, which it uses with local authorities, do so conform, and it is continuing discussions on these techniques and their implications with the Information Commissioner.
We are not aware of any representations about the Human Rights Act and the data-matching activities of the Audit Commission or local authorities.