Identity Cards Bill

I make it clear immediately that I do not intend to seek the opinion of the Committee on whether Clause 1 shall stand part of the Bill, although it is tempting, given that, after two and a bit days of debate, we seem to have uncovered more ambiguities in the drafting of the Bill than we have cleared up. It has normally been my experience in considering Home Office Bills that when I have tabled a huge number of amendments in Committee, I may not like the answers that I receive, but it is a matter of disagreement on a political principle. Therefore, I have to like it or lump it and divide and move on. On this occasion, one sees repeatedly that we will have to probe further in the future. I know that the Minister is doing all that she humanly can to shorten this Committee stage in the most proper way. I will not move my Amendments Nos. 54 and 56 to help speed up the process. I have kept the question whether Clause 1 should stand part of the Bill on the selection list for the traditional reason of mopping up rather than seeking a Division at this stage. That offer not to divide on clauses will not necessarily live on until Report. I have raised the question as a result of the comment of the noble Lord, Lord Phillips of Sudbury, during our debate on Amendment No. 1. The Minister dismissed his claims that the Government might be able to sell information from the register to private companies. We need to look further at that matter on Report, because of a story which appeared in the press this week. We know that stories in the press may not necessarily be based on the best research, but we need to find out whether they are true. An alarming report appeared in the Mail on Sunday that the DVLA is selling sensitive details about motorists to private car parking companies. I had thought that that was not possible under the provisions of the Data Protection Act. It now seems that the Road Vehicles Regulations 2002, which gave car park companies the right to find out about vehicle keepers, overrode any earlier restrictions in the Data Protection Act. Much of our concern arises from wanting to ensure that protections under the Data Protection Act will impose a rigour on this Bill. That is why I have raised the matter. Will the Minister assure the Committee that the Government will not issue any regulations under the provisions of this Bill that could enable information held on the national identity register to be sold or be made available for a fee to any commercial company unless the person to whom the information relates has prior knowledge and has given consent that that information should be revealed?