Ministers under fire for sale of database

The Commons Public Administration Committee said the Postcode Address File (PAF) should have been retained as a “national asset” freely available to all for the widest benefit of the economy.

It said the PAF’s disposal to the private sector for “short-term gain” in last year’s Royal Mail flotation was an “unacceptable and unnecessary consequence of privatisation” which could hold 
back economic innovation and growth.

Committee chairman Bernard Jenkin said: “The sale of the PAF with the Royal Mail was a mistake. Public access to public sector data must never be sold or given away again.”

The PAF contains all known Royal Mail delivery points in the UK with 1.8 million postcodes and 28 million postal addresses.

In its report, the committee said the database – which had been expensive to collect and collate into usable form – was of “huge direct value” to the economy.

However it expressed concern about the credibility of assurances that had been given regarding continued access for small businesses and others, now that it was in private hands.

“The Postcode Address File was included in the sale to boost the Royal Mail share price at flotation. This takes an immediate but narrow view of the value of such data sets,” it said.

“The PAF should have been retained as a public data set, as a national asset, available free to all, for the benefit of the public and for the widest benefit of the UK economy.”