Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Thursday, 20 March 2008 on behalf of the Solicitor General.

Crown Prosecution Service

Question: Is not the real lesson that the Government cannot be trusted with sensitive data? They do not know the value of such data and cannot keep them safe. How will the Solicitor-General achieve a real cultural change in the way the Government handle data?

Answer: I remind the hon. Gentleman that no data have been lost in this case, so he really should take a calming pill. He should set his feet slightly more firmly on the ground and take his head slightly further out of the clouds. There is an inquiry and it will produce outcomes in due course. It should take only a moment's thought to appreciate that when we delivered our DNA data disk to the Dutch, it was taken by an Association of Chief Police Officers officer. It was handcuffed to him and he was escorted by another officer. When the data came to the CPS, which is—as again a moment's thought would have told the hon. Gentleman—remote from ownership of our database and not the appropriate recipient, it came with no destination except ““CPS, Ludgate Hill””. The hon. Gentleman is going too far in his criticisms; he needs to wait until he knows a few facts—a little knowledge is a terribly dangerous thing.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 473 c1069
Session: 2007-08
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Databases Crime Genetics International cooperation Netherlands Crown Prosecution Service
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk