§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what additional advice is to be given to community charge registration officers as to the sale of names and addresses of people contained in the community charge register, when the sale of the names and addresses takes place without the consent or knowledge of the data subject;
(2) pursuant to his answer of 7 July at column 99, whether he will consult the Data Protection Registrar before he issues orders under section 20(11) of the Abolition of Domestic Rates Act which involve the access or disclosure of the personal data from the community charge register.
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§ Mr. LangDraft regulations on the registration procedures for the community charge system have recently been issued for consultation and a copy has been sent to the Data Protection Registrar. The draft regulations propose that the copies of the community charges register which are to be sent to the Keeper of the Records of Scotland under section 20(10) of the Abolition of Domestic Rates Etc. (Scotland) Act 1987 should be made available for public inspection after 30 years from the end of the year in which they are sent to him. The draft regulations also provide for the fees to be charged when copies of the parts of the register which are available for public inspection are made available for sale under section 20(4) of the Act. My right hon. and learned Friend is considering whether any amendment to section 20(4) of the Act is required to provide for any restriction on the parts of the public register which may be made available for sale.