Member Article

HMRC & information – when sharing can be caring

Here’s a quiz for you…

1. Do you believe that HMRC should keep data confidential?

2. Do you believe that everything should be done to help those dying of asbestosis?

Told you it was simple. I am sure that everybody has answered yes to both questions. So where’s the problem?

Somebody wanting to make a claim for compensation in an asbestosis case will need to show details of his/her employment history. Given that the event which triggered the disease could have been decades ago it may not be easy for an individual to remember precise details of previous jobs.

Where is the best place to find that information? National Insurance records, because these show somebody’s complete employment history.

And who is custodian of that information? HMRC.

So what happens when a claimant or a court wants to establish somebody’s employment history? They approach HMRC for the information and HMRC will provide it.

At least that was the case until recently.

But given all of the recent controversy about data security and confidentiality, HMRC has looked again and realised that releasing this information may well be outside their powers. After all, the purpose of establishing an employment history is to find the right company to sue for causing the asbestosis: should HMRC really be providing information which could be used against that employer in a legal case? HMRC has power to release information in criminal cases and certain civil cases in which it is a party, but in these industrial disease cases HMRC is not a party.

Fortunately a temporary work-round has been found and there will be a change in the law to allow HMRC to release this information in the future, but the fact that this has emerged as an issue shows just how complex questions about data security and confidentiality have become.

I doubt that this is the only example of such a problem as the whole area of confidentiality is much more complex than it might first appear. We have consistently urged great caution in the release of HMRC data, even where it is anonymised or aggregated. We have to accept that in some cases this may mean that sensible pragmatic solutions which have worked for years are no longer possible.

But at least this particular problem does seem to have been solved – which may bring a small crumb of comfort for those suffering from this terrible disease.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Baker Tilly .