§ Mr. Roger KingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether final approval has been given for the production and supply of the Economic and Social Research Council of samples of anonymised records from the 1991 census.
§ Mr. DorrellIn my reply to my hon. Friend, the Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mrs. Hicks) on 1 February 1991 at column682, I said that a final decision about producing and supplying samples of anonymised records (SARs) would be taken after the report of the technical assessor, Professor David Holt, once the confidentiality aspects had been considered.
In his report, Professor Holt expressed his conclusions as follows.
As a reasonable statistical judgement, the risk of disclosure is negligible for the large majority of the population and thought to be extremely small for the remainder. International experience indicates that the levels of risk are consistent with a decision to go ahead with the release of SARs, and I so advise".Having considered the report, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Scotland, and I have given approval for the production by the registrars general of two samples of anonymised records.
A copy of Professor Holt's report and the specifications of the two samples of anonymised records have been placed in the Library.