Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 November 2016 to Question 50659, what data from the National Pupil Database her Department shares with (a) the Home Office for immigration purposes, (b) media bodies and (c) other parties.

The National Pupil Database (NPD) is information the Department holds on pupils attending schools in England.

Where the police or Home Office have clear evidence that a child may be at risk or there is evidence of criminal activity, limited data including a pupil’s name, address and school details may be requested from the National Pupil Database. It is right that we share this data if it helps to keep a child safe from harm or to disrupt a crime.

For this purpose the Department has a data sharing arrangement in place with the Home Office which is set out in a Memorandum of Understanding.

The Secretary of State has legal powers to share extracts of data from the NPD, under strict terms and conditions, with named bodies and third parties who, for the purpose of promoting the education or well-being of children in England, are;

• Conducting research or analysis;

• Providing statistics; or

• Providing information, advice or guidance

There is no routine sharing of NPD data with media bodies. Anyone requesting data from the NPD must comply with strict confidentiality and security rules.

Details of the data held in the NPD that is available for named bodies and third parties to request, and the process and guidelines for requesting data extracts, is available on gov.uk.