asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give an assurance that information about the beliefs and lawful political

Index								Number of individuals covered	Date of operation
1. Vehicles reported as stolen, or as suspected of being used in connection with crime								—	Now
2. Owners of licensed motor vehicles							…	17·7 million	Now
3. The national main collection of fingerprints							…	2·2 million	Now
4. The names of people convicted of more serious offences							…	3·8 million	Now
5. Wanted or missing persons							…	50,000	1978
6. Disqualified drivers							…	170,000	1979

Access to the information in all categories is confined to the police, except information in category 2, which is available also to the Department of Customs and Excise and information in category 6 which will be available also to the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Centre.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what categories of information is it planned to store in the computerised Scotland Yard data bank; how many individuals will be covered by each category; who will have access to each category of information and for what purpose; and what date it is expected that each category of information will be added.

Information about political beliefs and activities is not held in the Police National Computer. Occasionally information about association with an organisation has been held for a limited period in the index of stolen and suspect vehicles when a police officer has judged it relevant when reporting a vehicle as suspected of being used in connection with crime.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what categories of information are at present stored in the Police National Computer; how many individuals are covered by each category of information; and who has access to each category of information;(2) what categories of information it is planned to store in the Police National Computer; how many individuals it is estimated will be covered in each category; who will have access to each category of information; and by what date it is expected that each new category of information will be added.

Following are the categories of information:

The computer will store information at present kept on paper in New Scotland Yard about crime, criminals and their associates and about matters relating to national security. The system will not become operational until next year; and, as yet, no precise estimate can be made of the number of people covered by the records to be put on computer. The information will be available only to a strictly limited number of officers in the relevant branches of New Scotland Yard.