Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (Disclosure of Higher Education Student Information) Regulations 2009

I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this debate for the interweaving of questions around two areas of concern which are well understood. The questions are: why is a lot of personal information required; what is the risk; and what are we doing to ensure that it is secure? One of the problems that the Government have taken on themselves is to make all leakages of data immediately known to the public, which gives the impression sometimes that there are lots of leaks in government circles and no leaks anywhere else. Most of us know that in the commercial world there are many leakages, but they are not publicised for the very good reason that they would either damage customer confidence or provide information which would be of value to commercial competitors. But they are the genuine concerns that a lot of people have. On identifiable information—names and so on—we believe that access to recording and identifying information will be essential for data-linking and matching. That will allow the ONS to cross-check the plausibility of information from different sources in order to refine and improve existing methods of estimation. Ensuring that students are counted only once and recorded in the appropriate place—that is, at their term-time address—is again a part of making the information that we have as accurate as possible. I was asked what the information will be used for. As I have said, it will provide information to the ONS to improve population migration statistics, including small area population estimates, some national population projections, internal migration estimates, international migration estimates, and assessment and adjustment for the 2011 census. This could include leaking of the data to other survey and administrative data; for example, the 2011 census of GP registers and school centres. My noble friend fears that this information could be used for other purposes. The order is specific and we have been specific in saying what the information will be used for. Therefore, it would not be possible for it to be used in any legal form for any other purpose. As to what will be disclosed to other parties, the regulations would enable onward disclosure, but that is limited to the disclosure of information from the student record in the way that I have mentioned to Northern Ireland and to Scotland through secure systems. My noble friend Lord Jones asked about the review in 12 months’ time and whether it would be brought back to your Lordships' House. The ONS will be responsible for reporting the benefits of this to the Migration Statistics Improvement Programme Board and the Minister overseeing it. It would not, as part of this order, be referred back here because no further legislative proposals would be required. But I am sure that the point about people wanting to be reassured would be sufficient to provide an impetus for us to put information in the public domain. On how the students are informed about the regulations, the first principle of the Data Protection Act 1998 requires fair processing of the information collected about students via higher education institutes. These institutes provide information to students about the use that is made of these data, which confirms that students will be informed that this information is being collected and, more importantly, in order to reassure students, why it is being used. I was also asked why data are being collected back to 2000 and who is paying for this. The data are already collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency from higher education institutes to assist the funding council and the Secretary of State in the allocation of funds. The ONS will pay for anything additional from the HESA. It comes down to the fact that the work is already being collected and the ONS will be responsible for additional finances. It is worth repeating that the ONS has asked only for information that it believes will be essential to support its work in improving migration and population statistics. Twenty-six student-level data items have been requested, which provide basic information. A full higher education institution record has something like 150 items of information, so in that sense the ONS is seeking not to burden itself with data that it does not need and does not share. On security issues, people well understand the nervousness about private information being held, whether by banks, by the Government, by the local authority or by anyone else. I can offer only the assurance that security is now recognised as of paramount importance in this. All those involved in this work are committed to meeting the data transfer, storage and handling standards specified by the information assurance arm of the Government Communication Headquarters as the UK’s national technical authority for information. I give the assurance that the Higher Education Funding Council for England and Wales will not share any identifiable information to the UK Statistics Authority until it is satisfied that these standards, and any other specific requirements, have been met. The other safeguard that we have is that any people who are found to have breached confidentiality will be liable to prosecution. The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 contains a confidential obligation with a potential criminal sanction for revealing or sharing any information unlawfully. I hope that those safeguards show the Government’s determination to protect this information. On the question of why records are being backdated to 2001, the answer is to provide comparison with data from the 2001 census and to provide a sound and reliable base for assessing change over time and, where appropriate, revising estimates. I hope that I have satisfied noble Lords on the questions that they have asked. I will review Hansard tomorrow and, if I have missed any, I will write to the noble Lords concerned. Motion agreed.