WIKIJames Brokenshire MP
James Peter Brokenshire is a British Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup and Minister for Security at the Home Office that grants him a seat on the National Security Council.
Contact Details
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 8400
Email: james.brokenshire.mp@parliament.uk
Communications Data Bill
written answer 19 Novermber 2012 to question by Julian Huppert MP-
- Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.[1]
Written answer Databases: Communications 01 November 2012
- We are taking forward legislation to ensure that law enforcement and other public authorities can maintain access to communications data as technology changes. This is vital to help tackle crime and terrorism. We published the draft Communications Data Bill on 14 June. Supporting information relating to the draft Bill (including the impact and privacy impact assessments to accompany legislation) are available from the Vote Office and at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/counter-terrorism/communications-data/
- The draft Bill is currently subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee of both Houses and an inquiry by the Intelligence and Security Committee. We are keen to ensure a thorough scrutiny process, and have contributed fully in setting out the case for the Bill through oral and written evidence to both Committees. The Committees plan to report by the end of November. We will respond to these reports following their publication.
Communications Capability Development Programme
written answer Databases: Telecommunications 29 February 2012
- As set out in the Home Office's structural reform plan, details of the Government's legislative proposals to preserve the ability of the law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies to obtain communications data within an appropriate legal framework will be announced in Parliament in due course.
written answer Inception Modernisation 9 February 2012
- The Interception Modernisation programme was a programme set up under the previous Government which has been superseded by the policies of the coalition Government. As we made clear in the strategic defence and security review the Government will continue to work to preserve the ability of the law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies to obtain communications data and to intercept communications within an appropriate legal framework. Through the Communications Capabilities Development programme we will ensure this is compatible with the Government's approach to civil liberties. As set out in the Home Office's Structural Reform Plan, details of this legislation will be announced in Parliament in due course.
Children's Digital Rights
Written Question Children: Databases 3 December 2007
- To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) other Departments and Government agencies are eligible to have access to the entire content of the ContactPoint database
Freedom of Information
Signed Early Day Motion 2699 Freedom of Information 10 December 2006
- That this House welcomes the finding of the Constitutional Affairs Committee (HC991) that the Freedom of Information Act has `already brought about the release of significant new information and....this information is being used in a constructive and positive way' and the committee's conclusion that it sees `no need to change' the Act's charging arrangements; views with concern reports that the Government is considering changing these arrangements to permit an application fee to be charged for all requests or to allow authorities to refuse, on cost grounds, a significant proportion of requests which they currently must answer; and considers that such changes could undermine the Act's benefits of increased openness, accountability and trust in the work of public authorities.
Links
News
- 2009-02-26 - Conservative press release - Bellingham explains our opposition to data plans
- Summary: Henry Bellingham, the Shadow Justice Minister, has expressed Conservative opposition to a new bill that would give Labour "massive new data sharing powers". Plans in the Coroners and Justice Bill will allow public departments, agencies and the private sector to share highly confidential data - and Henry stressed these measures "go too far". He said, "Of course, we support the fight against terrorism, and of course the police and security services need to keep their existing powers, but this clause extends massive new data sharing powers right across government and the private sector. That's why we plan to vote them down."
- 2009-02-25 - Blue Blog - Does Labour need to obtain so much data?
- Author: Tony Collins MP
- Summary: I was rather astonished by a recent article in Which? magazine on how to make sure that no-one can get hold of sensitive data left on your old PC. Apparently, there is only one full proof way to securely erase information beyond the ingenuity of the IT expert's ability to retrieve it. It's to take a large hammer and continue to hit your hard drive with until it is smashed into little bits. ... Conservatives have already called for various huge databases to be scrapped - such as the ContactPoint children's system - not simply on cost grounds but on security grounds. Labour now wants to give Ministers the right to allow the sharing of our private data between any organisations they deem fit at the stroke of the Minister's pen. Up until now data sharing has been constrained and defined on the basis of clearly stated purposes such as the reduction of fraud. The Government are now putting their administrative convenience above considerations of security and the whether their actions are appropriate at all. Ultimately, we all have a stake - it's our personal information. Let's face it, the Government's record of keeping our information safe has been dire yet they now want us to trust them to share our information more widely. That's why we will today vote in the House of Commons against plans in the Coroners and Justice Bill that will allow public departments, agencies and the private sector to share highly confidential data.