Following the Chancellor's statement, Charles Walker asks about the cost of the damage control and police investigation.

Mr. Charles Walker (Broxbourne) (Con): Since this problem occurred two months ago, millions of letters have been sent to families apologising for the fact that their details were given out, and thousands of hours of officials' and police time have been spent on trying to resolve the problem. What, to date, is the total cost to the taxpayer of the clear-up operation?

Mr. Darling: It is not possible to answer that question at the moment. What I will say is that I think it entirely right that the police were called in, entirely right that HMRC has devoted considerable resources to trying recover the data, and entirely right that we should spend the appropriate amount of money in order to find out what happened and then put it right.

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