Written question asked by Jeremy Browne (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 5 June 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 12 June 2007. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 12 June 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Crime: Databases

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the potential effect on costs in (a) the private sector and (b) the public sector of the introduction of data-sharing measures under part 3 of the Serious Crime Bill.

Answer: A public sector cost/benefit analysis of the data sharing measures under part 3 of the Serious Crime Bill can be found in the regulatory impact assessment published on the Home Office website."http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Serious-Crime-Bill-RIA.pdf"We do not envisage the powers leading to additional costs or burdens on the private sector. Our expectation is that where the powers are taken up they will help to lead to reductions in the cost of fraud in both the public and private sector.

Secondary information