Paper work

Two new ways of collecting information about the public, and their effect on people in Yorkshire, have crystallised the choice facing the coalition.

Asking patients at the region's casualty units to fill in a questionnaire about their level of drinking is counter-productive. While the scheme was no doubt dreamt up to improve public health, its blanket approach actually risks deterring people from seeking treatment. No one wants to be quizzed about their alcohol intake if they are in hospital for a condition unrelated to drink.

It adds yet another form to the paper-filled lives of medical staff, at a time when the Government is trying to cut bureaucracy in the public services.

Similarly, the bizarre policy by which police forces record information about callers, when they have not fallen under any kind of suspicion, does not represent a good use of resources.

The long-term holding of witnesses' personal details, such as their date-of-birth and ethnicity, could make innocent and vulnerable people reluctant to come forward with information that could help an inquiry. It also uses up time and money which are increasingly scarce.

The level of state involvement in the lives of ordinary, law-abiding people has preoccupied philosophers since they first began writing.

That debate will always run but what is clear is that costly and intrusive measures, however well-intentioned, can do more harm than good.