Crime and Security Bill

My Lords, I was a member of Sub-Committee F with the noble Lord, Lord Marlesford, whose amendment I support. I first came across the issue of money laundering and SARs when I was a non-executive director of a small blue-collar building society in the West Midlands—we were about 23rd or 24th on the list in size. I was head of the audit and compliance committee. We used to make 400 or 500 SARs a year. To my knowledge, not one was ever for more than £500; they were mostly for sums of about £150. It seemed to me that an awful lot of time and effort was being used up in making these reports and there was never any response from NCIS, the predecessor of SOCA, about what was happening. When I had the temerity to write and ask what was happening to the reports, I was told very firmly to mind my own business. I then wrote to ask what had happened to the reports. I was again told to mind my own business. I think that things have improved now, but that was the attitude and approach then. I want to underline what my noble friend has said. The scale is truly staggering. There are 210,000 reports a year. Nearly every month there are 15,000 and, in a big month, there are 30,000. The issue is not just the number of reports; the list of people to whom the information is made available is quite extraordinary. Why should the Post Office and Royal Mail be able to get hold of it? Why should the National Ports Analysis Centre need this information? It beats me, I am afraid. This information is contained in the SOCA annual report, which does not attempt to conceal any of this. However, a vast amount of information is being circulated about citizens, most of whom will not know that they are on the database and will have no chance of having the database corrected. They may just have been going about their business when they were the victim of an anonymous, vindictive tip-off, as my noble friend said. Just to make it absolutely clear, the report said: ""On receipt of a SAR no steps are taken to confirm whether or not the suspicion on which it was based is well founded, and SOCA believes it would not be practicable or useful to do so"." Well, that surprises me. Secondly, it states: ""An individual who wishes to see whether the ELMER databases includes entries relating to him, or to transactions or activities in which he has been involved, is unlikely to succeed. SOCA is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act ... Information may be sought under section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998, but it is likely that the exemptions relating to national security and crime will apply"." I think that we have a black hole into which information goes, is stored and is used for reasons we know not and by agencies we know not. My noble friend is doing a valuable service by proposing this amendment.