To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether all refusals of access to personal data held by his Department for the purpose of safeguarding national security are subject to a certificate signed under section 28 of the Data Protection Act 1998; and if he will make a statement. (281500)

A certificate is not necessary to claim the exemption under section 28 of the Act. Normally, a certificate will be issued when the use of the exemption has been challenged and the Home Secretary has satisfied himself of the need to certify the exemption.