To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has carried out an impact assessment of the Home Office's proposal to give the police powers to collect advance passenger data in respect of domestic air and sea journeys; and what recent discussions there have been between officials of his Department and officials of the Home Office on this matter. (275500)

Section 14 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 gives the police the power, subject to commencement through secondary legislation, to require a carrier, on request, to capture passenger and crew identity and other service data on domestic routes. The Home Office has not yet made a decision to carry out a formal public consultation on the proposals, which would include a full regulatory impact assessment, though the intention would be to focus the use of this power only on crossings between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Department for Transport officials and those from the Home Office are in regular contact on the range of international counter-terrorism issues.