From: Communications-Office of the Chief Executive

Sent: 04 June 2009 17:19

Subject: Message from the Director General of Resources

Importance: High

Attachments: identity crime prevention advice.doc

A number of Members' staff have written to express concern over the recent leak of allowances data. I would like to assure you that I take the matter of data security very seriously and the House Service is committed to ensuring that all data held about you, Members and staff here at the House is stored and used appropriately. We are in the process of conducting an investigation to establish how this data was leaked. As part of this investigation we will be considering whether any further steps could have been taken by the House Service to prevent this leak.

As soon as the House Service became aware of the leak assurances were sought and received from the Daily Telegraph that they would not publish personal financial details, residential addresses and data about third parties. I then wrote to Members on 13 May about the leak and highlighted the need for their staff to be made aware of what happened. Subsequently, the Clerk of the House, Malcolm Jack, wrote to Members warning them of the implications of publishing details about their expenses ahead of the House's publication date - again this related to revealing data such as banking/home address details etc.

Please take the time to read the Metropolitan Police's advice attached below which was also published on the intranet on 14 May: http://intranet.parliament.uk/news/identity-crime and:

If you would like to discuss this further with a member of staff in the Department of Resources please contact

Andrew Walker

Director General of Resources