§ Mr. Ian Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps are taken to safeguard the information about income sought by the interviewers conducting the General Household Survey on behalf of the Social Survey.
§ Mr. AlisonInterviewers and all their staff handling data from this and all other surveys conducted by the Social Survey are subject to the Official Secrets Act. The data are so handled that the names of individuals cannot be associated with their personal characteristics in any analysis or report on the survey.
§ Mr. Ian Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why no attempt has been made to obtain the information on household income sought in the household survey being conducted on behalf of the Social Survey from the Inland Revenue.
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§ Mr. AlisonThe Inland Revenue is prohibited by statute from divulging any information about the income of identifiable people. But in any case the income data are required for relating to other characteristics of households in the survey and, in particular, their use of various health and social services.
§ Mr. Ian Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what other surveys authorised by Her Majesty's Government, other than tax returns, require respondents to provide information about their personal incomes or assets by category of income or asset.
§ Mr. AlisonNone for which my right hon. Friend has any responsibility. They are all voluntary.
§ Mr. Ian Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will ensure that the Social Survey does not in future authorise questionnaires requesting detailed information about the income or assets of individuals or organisations unless the purpose of the inquiry has been explained to and authorised by him personally.
§ Mr. AlisonNo. Responsibility for the subject matter of surveys rests primarily with the Minister or Ministers responsible for the surveys.