HM Revenue and Customs: Data Protection

Mr. Hoban
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 29 October 2007, Official Report, column 905W, how many reported breaches of security have been recorded by HM Revenue and Customs in its offices since 1 October 2007.

Jane Kennedy
HMRC employs 90,000 staff at 600 sites. From 1 October 2007 to 24 June 2008, 1,993 breaches of security were reported, covering a wide range of different circumstances. Such security breaches reflect potential weaknesses reported by staff and not actual thefts or losses.

This high level of reporting reflects the increased awareness of staff to all forms of security following the child benefit data in loss in October 2007. HMRC takes any security incident report seriously and deals with each one appropriately in accordance with its departmental guidance and procedures.