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Departmental Data Protection

Volume 486: debated on Thursday 15 January 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what percentage of contractors and suppliers to (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have reported that they are compliant with the Government's security standards following publication of the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government, and the accompanying document, Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action, on 25 June 2008. (245326)

(a) All of the Department's suppliers and contractors who handle personal or sensitive data comply with Government security procedures, and the Data Handling Procedures in Government report.

(b) The agencies have passed on the requirements to their contractors, and are monitoring their progress towards full compliance.

New contracts placed by the Department or its agencies will incorporate the advice issued following the Data Handling report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many contracts (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; for which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each contract are held; and how many people have their data stored overseas in the case of each such contract. (245347)

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when his Department appointed a senior information risk owner in accordance with the report, Data Handling Procedures in Government and the accompanying document Cross-departmental Actions: Mandatory Minimum Action; when the appointment was made; and what grade the person holds within the Department. (245365)

The Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) was first appointed in February 2008. The SIRO holds a Director General position.

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what percentage of the IT systems in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies are fully accredited to the Government’s security standards. (245389)

For systems that require accreditation according to Government’s security standards:

(a) All systems (100 per cent.) fully accredited.

(b) All systems at the National Weights and Measures Laboratory are accredited. At the Intellectual Property Office, all externally facing and 3rd party provided systems are accredited. Accreditation of the internal systems is ongoing.