Select committee: Defence Committee
Recommendation 16
1st Report - Shifting heaven and earth? The Afghan data breach and resettlement schemes
Published 30 Jul 2026
Addressed to Ministry of Defence
Defence Committee Afghan Data Breach and Resettlement Schemes All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The government approached notification of affected Afghans primarily as a communications exercise rather than as a safeguarding intervention. Although the notification reached most affected individuals, it did not provide sufficiently specific, actionable or individualised information to enable people to understand their level of risk, what data relating to them or their families had been compromised, or what practical steps 71 they could take. Nor was it supported by an adequate system of follow-up engagement, case-specific advice or assistance. Given the time available to plan for disclosure and the foreseeable reaction of people receiving notice of a potential risk-to-life data breach—many of whom were in Afghanistan or precarious third-country settings—the government should have treated notification as an immediate operational response to safeguarding need, not simply as public messaging. (Conclusion, Paragraph 161)
From: Defence Committee, 1st Report - Shifting heaven and earth? The Afghan data breach and resettlement schemes (HC 69), 30 July 2026
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 16 October 2026 (deadline 30 September 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Ministry of Defence says the data incident was "unacceptable", accepts a number of the Committee's conclusions and some recommendations in whole or in part, and declines others, citing risk to life and national security.
- On the injunction, the government agrees the super-injunction was exceptional and accepts Recommendation 8 "in principle", but says any decision to widen briefing would be "for the government of the day".
- It "accepts part of" the recommendation to publish principles on injunctions, saying any course of action "remains a decision for Ministers" and is to be considered case by case.
- It will provide the Committee with "six-monthly updates" on the Afghan Resettlement Programme and expects to complete all ARP casework by Spring 2027, though the August 2026 milestone for initial decisions was missed.
- It declines to publish quality assurance KPIs, saying they "could have unintended consequences", and says exceptional circumstances will be considered for those unable to self-move within 12 months.