(2) on how many occasions in (a) her Department and (b) its agencies confidential data have been downloaded on to compact discs (i) without and (ii) with encryption in the last 12-month period for which figures are available; how many of those discs have been posted without using recorded or registered delivery; what procedures her Department has in place for the (A) transport, (B) exchange and (C) delivery of confidential or sensitive data; what records are kept of information held by her Department being sent outside the Department; what changes have been made to her Department’s rules and procedures on data protection in the last two years; on how many occasions her Department’s procedures and rules on data protection have been breached in the last five years; what those breaches were; what procedures her Department has in place on downloading confidential data on to computer discs before its transfer; what technical protections there are in her Department’s computer systems to prevent access to information held on those systems which is not in accordance with departmental procedures; and if she will place in the Library a copy of each of her Department’s rules and procedures on the protection of confidential data on individuals, businesses and other organisations;

(3) how many employees of each grade in her Department (a) have access to confidential or sensitive data and (b) are authorised to download such data to disc; how many of her Department’s employees have undergone data protection training in the last 12 months; what the average length of time is that each employee of (i) her Department and (ii) her Department’s agencies has spent on data protection training; how many investigations of employees of her Department for improperly accessing confidential information have taken place in the last 12 months; how many such investigations resulted in cases of disciplinary action; and what the circumstances of each of those cases were;

(4) what steps have been taken to protect individuals in the event of a data breach of the National Identity Register.