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Disclosure of State Pension Credit Information (Warm Home Discount) Regulations 2011

My Lords, I remember many discussions in the Moses Room about rationalising this system, and frustration on all sides of the Committee that people in need of help with their energy bills were not being able to take it because it was impossible to share information. This was for good reasons, but we knew that because information was not being shared, a number of the most vulnerable people in our society were not able to take the benefits that they needed in such a vital area of their lives. Therefore, I welcome the regulations, because at last we seem to have a solution that gets around the problem. That is good, although I think that all of us in this information age are concerned about the sharing of data. Data security is always an area of difficulty, and the fact that this information will be held according to government standards is some reassurance. However, the key issue is what happens in practice and who leaves which laptop or USB where. There are always risks in this area. The one area where I pricked up my ears was that of data matching. I am lucky enough to be going on holiday to the United States this year, and I almost worry that I will be data matched with an Iranian terrorist and will be unable to come back for the October Session. My Whip would be particularly unhappy about that.