Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the letter of 14 February 2017 from the Minister of State for Digital and Culture to the hon Member for Birkenhead, which services and benefits he plans to include within the affirmative procedures for public service delivery under the Digital Economy Bill.

The draft Digital Government (Disclosure of Information) Regulations, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/535311/2016-07-05_Digital_Government__Disclosure_of_Information__draft_regs.pdf, give illustrative examples of the public service delivery purposes for which information may be disclosed.

The draft Regulations include:

i) supporting individuals or households who face multiple disadvantages;

ii) assisting people living in fuel poverty; and

iii) providing assistance to people who lose access to television broadcasts as a result of upcoming changes to the use of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Under the provisions of the Digital Economy Bill, information may also be disclosed for the purposes of assisting people living in water poverty. The Digital Economy Bill allows for further regulations to be made that change, including adding further purposes.