§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will place in the Library a copy of his advice, which related to the need for London boroughs to protect claimants from false accusations based on inaccurate data, resulting from his intentions to cross-match council tax and housing benefits personal data with personal data held by his Department.
§ Mr. ArbuthnotNo written advice has been issued but the Department has held a number of meetings with representatives from the participating London boroughs to discuss the pilot. The cross-matching of data will identify inconsistencies which warrant further consideration. The data sources will be thoroughly checked to confirm any discrepancy prior to any investigation taking place.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he wrote to local authority associations concerning his intentions to cross-match council tax and housing benefits personal data with personal data held by his Department; when copies of this correspondence were sent to the Data Protection Registrar; when he alerted the registrar to the intended data matching exercise in London; and if he will outline the steps which have been taken to improve communications with the registrar's office.
§ Mr. ArbuthnotFormal consultations with the local authority associations began on 14 June 1994. Copies of the correspondence were not sent to the data protection registrar. The registrar was informed of the Department's proposals for the pilot exercise at a meeting early in June522W 1994. We contact the registrar's office whenever necessary.