Green Party Principal Speaker, Caroline Lucas, has reacted angrily to the news that Lockheed Martin has been awarded the contract to run the 2011 Census, saying that the decision puts public privacy and public service planning at risk.
The announcement was made by the Office for National Statistics today - eight months later than planned. The delay was prompted by the Green Party's 'Census Alert' campaign, which raised concerns about links between the arms company and the US government, and fears that the US Patriot Act would mean personal data on everyone in the UK would be made available to American intelligence services.
MPs on the Treasury Committee have taken up the points raised by the campaign and asked for legal advice to be obtained on the safety of citizen's data earlier this year.
The terms of the contract announced today will specify that Lockheed must sub-contract Census data handling to UK and European companies. However, this has not reassured campaigners.
Caroline Lucas said today:
"Despite the claims of the ONS, this contract is still fraught with problems. It is worrying to see government agencies taking such a cavalier attitude to sensitive data, particularly in the wake of recent scandals in which data on millions of people has been lost by banks and public service contractors.
"I would be very interested to see the legal advice obtained and whether it supports this decision, and the Green Party has asked the ONS and the Treasury Committee to release this advice immediately.
"What happens, for example, if one of the UK sub-contractors is taken over by an American company after the contract is signed?
"We maintain that the Census would be best conducted by teams of public employees, over which we have full scrutiny and control, not by private contractors with such close links to the US Government.
"Many people will not believe the terms of the contract will really keep their data safe, yet the validity of the Census depends on the trust of every person in Britain. If this deal goes ahead, the Census will not be fit for purpose - the involvement of Lockheed Martin will put the planning and funding of public services at risk."