§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether it is still the intention of the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys to release small area statistics in a form which would make it possible to match these small area statistics with other personal databases precisely through the post code;
(2) what plans the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys has to guarantee confidentiality of small area statistics from the 1991 census in the light of the fact that the use of the post code will make it possible for small area statistics to be matched with other personal databases.
§ Mr. FreemanThe Office of Population Censuses and Surveys does not intend to release small area statistics from the 1991 census in any form which would make it possible to match characteristics of identifiable individual people or households with those held on other databases.
Steps are being proposed, as for the 1981 census, to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of information on identifiable people or households, by modifying figures at random by +1, 0 or -1, and by not releasing any statistics for areas containing fewer than a specified number of people or households.