Departmental Data Protection

Mr. Weir
To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether confidential or personal information has been compromised through the loss of property from his Department since 1997.

Mr. Bradshaw
Except in exceptional cases, when it is in the public interest, it has been the policy of successive Governments not to comment on breaches of security. However, following the publication of the “Data Handling Procedures in Government: Interim Progress Report” on 17 December 2007, Official Report, column 98WS, all Departments will cover information assurance issues in their annual reports. A copy of the Interim Progress Report is available in the Library.