To ask Her Majesty's Government when the partnership arrangement between the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council for access to SOCA's ELMER database was established; for what purpose it was established; for how long the arrangement is to run; and on how many occasions the Council has accessed the database. [HL2532]

The partnership agreement between SOCA and Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council was signed on 30 April 2008. The agreement allows an accredited financial investigator in the council's consumer fraud team within trading standards to access the ELMER database for the purpose of combating consumer fraud. Access to the database is limited to accredited financial investigators. All partnership agreements are subject to review every two years and therefore the agreement with Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council will be reviewed in April 2010. The financial investigator at Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council has never accessed the ELMER database directly due to connectivity issues.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what public or private bodies other than the Government security services and the police have direct access to the ELMER database of the Serious Organised Crime Agency. [HL2533]

In addition to the police and the regional asset recovery teams (RARTs), the following public bodies have direct access to the ELMER database. This access is limited to accredited financial investigators within these bodies:

Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre;

Civil Recovery Unit, Scotland;

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills;

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;

Department for Work and Pensions;

HM Revenue and Customs;

National Policing Improvement Agency;

Royal Mail;

Serious Fraud Office;

Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency;

Social Security Agency, Northern Ireland; and

UK Border Agency.