Digital Economy Bill

Lord Ashton of Hyde Excerpts

Committee: 3rd sitting (Hansard - continued): House of Lords
Monday 6th February 2017 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

106A: Clause 36, page 34, line 42, leave out “section 30, 31 or 32” and insert “any of sections 30 to (Disclosure of information by water and sewerage undertakers)”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

107A: Clause 36, page 35, line 5, leave out “section 30, 31 or 32” and insert “any of sections 30 to (Disclosure of information by water and sewerage undertakers)”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

112: Clause 38, page 37, line 36, leave out paragraphs (a) and (b) and insert—
“( ) a devolved Welsh authority as defined by section 157A of the Government of Wales Act 2006, or( ) a person providing services to a devolved Welsh authority as defined by that section.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

118: Clause 42, page 42, line 29, leave out from “behaviour”” to end of line 31 and insert “means conduct that—
(a) is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person, or(b) is capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

120: Clause 42, page 43, line 10, leave out from “by” to end of line 11 and insert “any of Parts 1 to 7 or Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

125: Clause 43, page 43, line 29, at end insert—
“( ) which is a protected disclosure for any of the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1919 (NI 16)),( ) consisting of the publication of information for the purposes of journalism, where the publication of the information is in the public interest,”

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[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

128: Clause 43, page 43, line 34, leave out from “behaviour”” to end of line 36 and insert “means conduct that—
(a) is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person, or(b) is capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises.”

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[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

129: Clause 44, page 44, line 16, leave out “(“P”)”

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[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

136: Clause 48, page 48, line 25, leave out paragraphs (a) and (b) and insert—
“( ) a devolved Welsh authority as defined by section 157A of the Government of Wales Act 2006, or( ) a person providing services to a devolved Welsh authority as defined by that section.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

139: Clause 50, page 50, line 28, leave out from “behaviour”” to end of line 30 and insert “means conduct that—
(a) is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person, or(b) is capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

145: Clause 51, page 51, line 27, at end insert—
“( ) which is a protected disclosure for any of the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1919 (NI 16)),( ) consisting of the publication of information for the purposes of journalism, where the publication of the information is in the public interest,”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

147: Clause 51, page 51, line 35, leave out from “behaviour”” to end of line 37 and insert “means conduct that—
(a) is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to any person, or(b) is capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises.”

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[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

148: Clause 52, page 52, line 19, leave out “(“P”)”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

153: Clause 56, page 56, line 22, leave out paragraphs (a) and (b) and insert—
“( ) a devolved Welsh authority as defined by section 157A of the Government of Wales Act 2006, or( ) a person providing services to a devolved Welsh authority as defined by that section.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

154: Clause 57, page 57, line 14, at end insert—
“( ) Information may be disclosed under subsection (5)(b)—(a) only with the consent of the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, if it is information to which section 60 (2) applies;(b) only with the consent of the Welsh Revenue Authority, if it is information to which section (Information disclosed by the Welsh Revenue Authority)(5) applies;(c) only with the consent of Revenue Scotland, if it is information to which section (Information disclosed by Revenue Scotland)(5) applies.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

155: Clause 57, page 57, leave out lines 27 to 30 and insert—
“( ) any person (including the public authority) who is involved in processing the information for disclosure under subsection (1);”

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord Ashton of Hyde) (Con)]

My Lords, these amendments apply to the research power, and there is an additional amendment which applies to the statistics power. Together, they add clarity and strength to the set of robust safeguards that have been developed to facilitate the processing and safe disclosure of personal information provided by public authorities for research purposes. To encourage greater use of publicly held data for research in the public interest, it is important that everyone concerned can have confidence that personal information is appropriately protected, while at the same time researchers are able to interrogate the information to produce research findings that further the public interest. These amendments further help strike that balance.

The amendments fall into four categories. First, Amendment 155, to Clause 57(9), makes clear, for the avoidance of doubt, that a public authority that processes another public authority’s personal information must be accredited to do so, as well as to process its own information.

Secondly, Amendments 159 to 180 and Amendment 191 correct defects in the drafting of Clauses 59 and 60. The defect in each clause prevents persons who receive processed information from processors under Clause 57(1) disclosing that information at all if that information meets the wide definition in Clause 57(12), whereas it was always intended that researchers would be able to disclose the information that they receive under the power to other researchers for the purposes of peer review. The amendments also strengthen the unlawful disclosure provisions by adding a new offence which applies to disclosure of a defined category of personal information by a person who has received processed information under Clause 57(1). The information that is protected is consistent with Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. The amendments have been drafted in a way that will enable researchers to submit their findings for peer review and for publication in a similar way to current practice under that Act. These amendments have been developed with the assistance of the UK Statistics Authority, which has considerable expertise in this area.

Thirdly, Amendments 183 to 189 and Amendments 192 to 195 tidy up a drafting error by which the code of practice currently applies to the disclosure, holding or use of both personal information and information that is not, or never has been, personal. To apply the code or any other safeguards in this power to information that does not identify or risk identifying individuals would be unnecessarily bureaucratic.

Finally, Amendment 210 to new Section 53A supports devolved statistics by giving the UK Statistics Authority a mechanism to share information with its statistical counterparts in the devolved Administrations. In Northern Ireland, the principal statistical department is the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, or NISRA. Some of NISRA’s functions are held specifically by its parent department, the Department of Finance. Other statistical functions are held only by the Registrar-General for Northern Ireland. New Section 53A(2) does not currently list the Registrar-General for Northern Ireland as a devolved authority, meaning that UKSA cannot share information with NISRA relating to the Registrar-General’s statistical functions. This amendment resolves this difficulty by adding the Registrar-General for Northern Ireland to the definition of devolved authority in new Section 53A(2). I beg to move.

Amendment 155 agreed.

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

157: Clause 58, page 58, line 11, leave out from “by” to end of line 12 and insert “any of Parts 1 to 7 or Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

159: Clause 59, page 58, line 28, at end insert—
“(A1) Subsection (A2) applies to personal information—(a) in which the identity of a particular person is specified or from which the identity of a particular person can be deduced, whether from the information itself or from that information taken together with any other published information, and(b) which is received by a person (“P”) under section 57 (1)(disclosure for research purposes).(A2) Personal information to which this subsection applies may not be disclosed—(a) by P, or(b) by any other person who has received it directly or indirectly from P.(A3) Subsection (A2) does not apply to a disclosure—(a) to a person by whom the research referred to in section 57(1) is being or is to be carried out, or(b) by a person by whom such research is being or has been carried out—(i) for the purposes of enabling anything that is to be published as a result of the research to be reviewed before publication, and (ii) to a person who is accredited under section 62 as a person to whom such information may be disclosed for that purpose.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

165: Clause 59, page 58, line 37, leave out “(including section 57(5))”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

169: Clause 59, page 59, line 5, after “criminal),” insert—
“( ) which is a protected disclosure for any of the purposes of the Employment Rights Act 1996 or the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1919 (NI 16)),( ) consisting of the publication of information for the purposes of journalism, where the publication of the information is in the public interest,”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

174: Clause 60, page 59, line 41, at end insert—
“(A1) Subsection (A2) applies to personal information—(a) in which the identity of a particular person is specified or from which the identity of a particular person can be deduced, whether from the information itself or from that information taken together with any other published information, and(b) which—(i) is disclosed under section 57 (1)(disclosure for research purposes) by the Revenue and Customs, or(ii) is disclosed under section 57 (1) by a person other than the Revenue and Customs and is derived from information disclosed under section 57 (5) by the Revenue and Customs,and is received by a person (“P”) under section 57(1).(A2) Personal information to which this subsection applies may not be disclosed by P.(A3) Subsection (A2) does not apply to a disclosure—(a) to a person by whom the research referred to in section 57 (1) is being or is to be carried out, or(b) by a person by whom such research is being or has been carried out—(i) for the purposes of enabling anything that is to be published as a result of the research to be reviewed before publication, and(ii) to a person who is accredited under section 62 as a person to whom such information may be disclosed for that purpose.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

181: After Clause 60, insert the following new Clause—
“Information disclosed by the Welsh Revenue Authority
(1) Subsection (2) applies to personal information—(a) in which the identity of a particular person is specified or from which the identity of a particular person can be deduced, whether from the information itself or from that information taken together with any other published information, and(b) which—(i) is disclosed under section 57 (1)(disclosure for research purposes) by the Welsh Revenue Authority, or (ii) is disclosed under section 57 (1) by a person other than the Welsh Revenue Authority and is derived from information disclosed under section 57 (5) by the Welsh Revenue Authority,and is received by a person (“P”) under section 57(1).(2) Personal information to which this subsection applies may not be disclosed by P.(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a disclosure—(a) to a person by whom the research referred to in section 57 (1) is being or is to be carried out, or(b) by a person by whom such research is being or has been carried out—(i) for the purposes of enabling anything that is to be published as a result of the research to be reviewed before publication, and(ii) to a person who is accredited under section 62 as a person to whom such information may be disclosed for that purpose.(4) Subsection (5) applies to personal information which—(a) identifies a particular person, and(b) is disclosed by the Welsh Revenue Authority under section 57 (5)(disclosure for processing) and received by a person (“P”).(5) Personal information to which this subsection applies may not be disclosed—(a) by P, or(b) by any other person who has received it under section 57 (5).(6) Subsection (5) does not apply to a disclosure under section 57 (1).(7) Subsection (2) or (5) does not apply to a disclosure which is made with the consent of the Welsh Revenue Authority (which may be general or specific).(8) A person who contravenes subsection (2) or (5) is guilty of an offence.(9) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (8) to prove that the person reasonably believed—(a) that the disclosure was lawful, or(b) that the information had already and lawfully been made available to the public.(10) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (8) is liable—(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, to a fine, or to both;(b) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, to a fine or to both.(11) In the application of subsection (10)(a) to an offence committed before the coming into force of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 the reference to 12 months is to be read as a reference to 6 months.”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

183: Clause 61, page 60, line 18, after “of” insert “personal”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

186: Clause 61, page 60, line 24, after “disclosing” insert “personal information”

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[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

188: Clause 61, page 60, line 29, leave out “or (c)” and insert “, (c) or (ca)”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

191: Clause 62, page 61, line 18, at end insert—
“(ca) may accredit a person as a person to whom such information may be disclosed for the purposes of a review of the kind mentioned in section 59(A3)(b), 60(A3)(b), (Information disclosed by the Welsh Revenue Authority)(3)(b) or (Information disclosed by Revenue Scotland)(3)(b),”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

195: Clause 62, page 62, line 11, at end insert “, and
( ) a register of persons who are accredited under subsection (1)(ca).”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

197: Clause 67, page 65, line 15, leave out from “by” to “or” in line 16 and insert “any of Parts 1 to 7 or Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016,”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

200: Clause 68, page 66, line 25, leave out from “by” to “or” in line 26 and insert “any of Parts 1 to 7 or Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016,”

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Moved by

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

210: Clause 69, page 72, line 23, at end insert “, or
( ) the Registrar General for Northern Ireland.”