Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will place in the Library a copy of any current Memorandum of Understanding between her Department and the Home Office on the use or sharing of pupil data.

The National Pupil Database (NPD) is a longitudinal research database that provides evidence on educational performance to inform independent research, as well as studies commissioned by the Department.

The Department may legally share the NPD (or elements of it) with third parties, using powers set out in Section 537A of the Education Act 1997 and the Education (Individual Pupil Information) (Prescribed Persons) (England) Regulations 2009. Organisations requesting access under those powers must show how it will be used to promote pupils' education, through evidence or research.

In addition to the provisions within the Education Act 1997, in line with the Data Protection Act 1998, where the police or Home Office have clear evidence that a child may be at risk or evidence of criminal activity, limited data including a pupil’s address and school details may be requested from the NPD. It is right that we share this data if it helps to keep a child safe from harm or to disrupt a crime.

This data does not include nationality or country of birth information. These data items are not processed into the NPD. Thus they are not used in any matching work associated with provision of data to the Home Office.

The current Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and the Home Office is in the House Library.