Digital Economy Bill

Lord Clement-Jones Excerpts

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

Moved by

[Lord Clement-Jones]

113: Clause 39, page 38, line 23, leave out from “that” to end of line 26 and insert—
“(a) the authority or civil registration official to whom it is disclosed (the “recipient”) requires the information to enable the recipient to exercise one or more of the recipient’s functions, and(b) the data subjects whose information is being disclosed have given valid consent under data protection legislation.”

[Lord Clement-Jones (LD)]

My Lords, I wish to speak also to Amendment 116.

This issue is extremely straightforward. My remarks may anticipate some of the points that the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, will make in due course on the clause stand part question, for which we have considerable sympathy. However, we on these Benches and many others outside the House are deeply concerned that Chapter 2 of Part 5 contains no safeguards against bulk copying of civil registration data. We accept the case for a power to disclose civil registration information where an individual has consented. A citizen should, of course, be able to choose to let the registrar inform other bodies of changes. However, new Section 19AA in Clause 39(2) appears to remove any limit to copying registration data in bulk. As regards the draft civil registration code of practice, there appears to be no explicit limit on that sharing of data in bulk, and certainly no requirement for individual consent. Therefore, the essence of this amendment is quite simply to require that there should be express consent of the data subject.

As regards Amendment 116, approximately 1.3 million births and deaths are registered each year under legislation dating back to 1953, which consolidated provisions going back to the start of civil registration in 1837. In 2009, a system was introduced to allow registrars to register births and deaths electronically but it is the hard copy which this generates which is the legal copy that will be used to issue the certificates. Registrars also have to use the electronic system to submit an electronic copy of each event to the superintendent registrar. Primary legislation is required to make the electronic copy the legal copy and to remove the need for paper altogether, although individuals could still order hard-copy certificates should they so choose.

It has been estimated that such a move would save the local registration service and the Home Office around £2.5 million a year, primarily through removing the routine creation of registers containing loose-leaf, watermarked registration documents. Local authorities currently have to pay to store hard copies of all documents, so the change would reduce future storage costs. Provided that sufficient checks are in place, electronic documents are more secure than paper ones, which is particularly important when loose-leaf documents are being moved.

I hope that I have made the case for this amendment, which is very much supported by many in this field, and I hope that the Minister will look favourably on it. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Keen of Elie]

It does not extend to Scotland. It is a provision pertaining to England and Wales. I am obliged to the noble Lord for giving me time to find my place in my notes. It is greatly appreciated.

As I said, the proposals in Chapter 2 of Part 5 will ensure that citizens are able to access future government digital services efficiently and securely, while removing the current reliance on paper certificates. I will address the two amendments first before addressing the clause stand part aspect of this debate.

Amendment 113 would add a requirement for a civil registration official to be satisfied that the information is required by a recipient to fulfil one or more of their functions before disclosing data and also seeks to add a requirement that an individual must have given valid consent under data protection legislation prior to any disclosure of their personal data. With respect, this amendment is unnecessary because disclosure of personal data under these clauses will already be subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act. To require explicit consent in all cases would exceed the requirements of the Data Protection Act and the purpose of this clause. Disclosure will take place without consent only if to do so would be consistent with the Data Protection Act, which governs fair disclosure. Examples of how the powers would be exercised in practice include allowing registration officials to disclose information within and across local authority boundaries in order to safeguard children. Being able to share information will ensure that children are known to the local authorities in which they reside and action can be taken to address any needs of the child or the parent. That is what lies behind this matter.

Amendment 116 seeks to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 to introduce an electronic register for the registration of births and deaths. However, the proposed amendment to Section 25 of the 1953 Act as currently drafted does not go far enough. The legislation which provides for the registration of births and deaths is based on legislation in place in 1836—or 1837—and very little has changed to the process of registering births and deaths since then. The Act would need more amendment in order to introduce an electronic register. Moving to an electronic register would remove the requirement for hard-copy registers and the electronic register of births and deaths would be the legal record instead of the paper registers. It is certainly an area of reform that the Government are keen to take forward. However, we need more time. I reassure noble Lords that the Government will look in more detail at what changes need to be made to the Act in order to bring in this change and we will consider legislating in due course. We recognise the benefits that the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, suggested could be achieved once that entire process is completed. In light of those points, I hope that the noble Lord will agree not to press that amendment.

I turn to my noble friend Lady Byford and her opposition to the clause standing part of the Bill. Unless there is a specific statutory gateway, information from the records of births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths may not be disclosed by registration officials other than in the form of a certified copy of an entry, such as a birth or death certificate, on payment of the statutory fee. As I have indicated, the system is outdated and based on paper processes from the 19th century. This clause introduces new data-sharing powers that allow registration officials to share data from birth, death, marriage and civil partnership records with public authorities for the purposes of fulfilling their functions. However, only the minimum amount of data will be provided to enable the public authority to fulfil the function.

My noble friend asked for examples of the benefits of sharing such registration data. Being able to share data about deaths with local authorities would assist in combating housing tenancy fraud. The National Fraud Authority estimates that housing tenancy fraud costs local authorities £845 million each year. An example of this is when someone continues to live in a property following the death of the tenant even when they have no right to do so. The sharing of birth data within the local authority would assist social services, for example, if they wanted to engage with one of the parents in the interests of a child. Sharing marriage data would help to target those living together if there were a fraudulent claim to be single for the purposes of claiming benefits. Sharing death data within local authorities would help them to recover medical equipment following the death of an individual.

There are many examples where such data sharing would be of assistance. It paves the way for citizens to access government services more conveniently, efficiently and securely, for example, by removing the current reliance on paper certificates to access services. This will provide more flexibility and will modernise how government services are delivered. An example is where registration officials will be able to share data on births that have occurred in one district, but where those concerned live in a neighbouring district with no hospital. This would allow local authorities more accurately to plan the provision of health care, school planning and other local services. Being able to share death data across boundaries will also help to prevent unwanted mail being sent to the family of a deceased person.

Registration officials will be able to share registration data only with the public authorities defined in new Section 19AB of the Registration Service Act 1953. Any data sharing will of course be carried out strictly in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act. The sharing of registration data will be underpinned by a statutory code of practice as required by Section 19C. One of the requirements in the code will be that the Registrar-General must personally approve any request for the sharing of large amounts of data.

Before data are shared, the code of practice requires privacy impact assessments and data-sharing agreements to be drawn up and agreed with public authorities to include such things as how data are to be used, stored and retained. Data will be able to be used only for the purpose they have been provided and retained only for as long as necessary. Data-sharing agreements will forbid the creation of a database or the linking of registration data in any way. Any breach would be reported to the Information Commissioner, who has the power to impose penalties where it is appropriate to do so. I hope that that deals with the fears expressed about the bulk use of such registration data.

[Lord Clement-Jones]

My Lords, I am not sure whether the Minister has dealt with the questions raised by my noble friend.

[Lord Keen of Elie]

I apologise for omitting to respond to the questions asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, by reference to the fact sheet. Rather than poring over the provisions of the Bill, I will undertake to write to her pointing out the cross-reference between the terms of the fact sheet and the relevant provisions in the Bill. I will place a copy of that letter in the Library.

[Lord Clement-Jones]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his response, but I am a little bit baffled. Here we are—and I am talking here particularly with reference to Amendment 116—discussing the Digital Economy Bill. It should be doing what it says on the tin. I put forward, in my name and in the name of my noble friend Lady Scott, who is the inspiration behind the amendment, something that would make sure that it was the electronic copy that was the legal copy. Here is the Minister saying—and I do not think I have ever had a Minister say this to me—that the amendment does not go far enough. That is a very joyous response, but on the other hand he wants more time and “it will all happen in due course”. This is the Digital Economy Bill: what other opportunity are we going to have to ensure that our Registrar-General and so on—the General Register Office and local authorities—are under a legal obligation to hold electronic copies rather than the old, steam-driven paper copies? We have been doing this since 1837 or 1836, as we heard earlier. Is it not about time that we changed our practices, and is it not possible that we have been cooking up an amendment over the last 50 years that might suit the book and be able to appear on Report? That is my response on Amendment 116.

My response on Amendment 113 is a little bit dustier. I have read the code of practice, and I accept the Minister’s assurances; throughout this process he has given a lot of assurances about the impact of the Data Protection Act. There is no doubt about that: either explicit consent or, where no explicit consent is given, it is in accordance with the Data Protection Act and so on. There are some very worthy purposes in terms of data sharing: safeguarding children was an absolutely splendid example for the Minister to produce, and he produced some very good examples to the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, as well. Of course, there are some very good examples, but the code of practice is very opaque in that respect. It really does not get into any of that kind of worthy purpose: it simply talks about disclosing in accordance with the Data Protection Act. I looked through when the Minister was talking to see whether it was the Registrar-General who was the one person who was going to authorise disclosure, and it seemed to me that there were an awful lot more people who were authorised to disclose than simply one person.

There is something defective about these codes of practice. They seem to be far too bland and they do not give the public the reassurance that they should. We have talked about public trust right across the Committee, and the fact is that the reason why so many amendments have come forward from a variety of different sources to this part of the Bill is precisely that lack of trust. I suggest that the Minister and his colleagues look again at whether these codes of practice are doing their job.

That is another reason why, at the end of the day, these codes of practice should be approved by Parliament. That has also been a running theme of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, which had it absolutely right in every single chapter that it dealt with. These codes of practice should be approved by Parliament. Otherwise, I do not believe that the Government are going to build that public trust in this data sharing, which is absolutely essential. The Minister should look again at that aspect, but in the meantime, having given the Minister a hard time at this time of night, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment 113 withdrawn.