Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Walmsley (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Monday, 19 March 2007.

Schools: Biometric Data

Question: My Lords, while I have enormous respect for the Minister, his answer smacks of considerable complacency. This is widespread across the country. Children are being fingerprinted without their consent or their parents’ consent. They are being victimised if they do not comply by not being allowed to use the library, by being threatened with exclusion and by being made to go to the back of the dinner queue if they do not have one of these cards. Will he look into this and find out what the real situation is rather than the theoretical one that he has so reasonably outlined?

Answer: My Lords, there is a certain amount of scaremongering in the noble Baroness’s question, which I simply do not accept on the basis of the information that has been made available to my department.

Secondary information