§ Lord Woolmer of Leedsasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many separate electronic databases they hold on average on each male and female United Kingdom citizen. [HL3366]
§ The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn)The information requested is not held centrally. The public sector utilises a range of databases with varying degrees of national or local coverage, with different data sets and sources of updates.
As the noble Lord may be aware, the Government published a report by the Performance and Innovation Unit, Privacy and Data-Sharing: The Way Forward for Public Services in April 2002. The report sets out a strategy for improving the use of personal data in the public sector, while safeguarding the individual's privacy. The Government are consulting on, and taking forward, the PIU recommendations. Copies of the report are available in the Library. I apologise to the noble Lord for the delay in issuing this reply.