§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he has made a decision to award the 443W contract for the back-record conversion of criminal records for input to the Phoenix system; if the successful contractor could carry out some of the work in a third-world country; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanI announced the award of the contract for Phoenix back record conversion on 8 JulyOfficial Report, Column 330–31. None of the work will be carried out overseas. The project is now underway and is expected to be finished in 18 months.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce legislation which permits embassies to access criminal records held on the police national computer; when he expects to announce his policy with respect to the wider access to criminal records; and if he will summarise the drawbacks of the practice of enforced subject access.
§ Mr. MacleanWhile legislation would not be necessary to permit embassies to access criminal records held on the police national computer, there are no plans to do so. I hope to announce the results of our review of access to criminal records for employment vetting purposes in spring 1995.
Enforced subject access is widely criticised as an abuse of a right conferred by the Data Protection Act 1984 on individuals for other purposes.