§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will institute an inquiry on the keeping of records regarding the party political views of bank customers; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what assessment he has made of whether the Data Protection Registrar has sufficient funds and staff to initiate a full inquiry into the keeping of records on individuals' party political views by commercial organisations.
§ Mr. Peter LloydIt is for the Data Protection Registrar to determine whether a breach of the Data Protection Act has occurred in any particular case. I understand that the registrar is making some preliminary inquiries in the banking sector, following the stories which have appeared about the holding of data on political affiliations. He will consider whether further inquiries are appropriate, and what the resource implications of these may be.