Phizzy as far as i'm aware they have always been the ones to pass on the publisher card to the new congregation, but obviously if no new congregation is given i guess it continues gathering dust at your old one.
It is worth noting though that throughout the EU the Data protection act is enforced with quite substantial penalties if your personal information is not either handed over or destroyed in it's entirety upon request. The Banks have found themselves on the wrong side of the law a few times in this regard by leaving shredded customer information in bin bags in the street rather than disposing of them in the proper way.