Identity Cards Bill

My name appears on the amendment, and I was delighted when the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, agreed to move the amendment and even more delighted when I heard her robust argument. In another place my honourable friends took the lead on these matters; I decided that it was more appropriate for the noble Baroness to do so because of her expertise on them. Children’s needs come well before any matter of party pride. These are probing amendments. I wish to go to all those organisations that have the interests of children at heart between now and Report to ask their views on the Minister’s response. I know that she will try to help us on these issues, given her past responses. I am grateful to Alison Linsey of the National Children’s Bureau for sending me the child impact statement of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Children. I would be grateful if the Minister could address some of the following points made in the report. First, there is no explicit rationale for including under-18s in the proposal. The accepted definition of a child in the UK is up to 18 years, with some exceptions for particularly vulnerable groups such as care-leavers or children with learning difficulties. Secondly, there is a lack of clarity about the purpose of the national identity register. Powers in the Bill allow for the possibility that the database could be used for purposes as yet undisclosed and for groups of young people as yet undefined. The information-sharing indexes to be established by the Children Act 2004 need to be taken into account. Will the Minister explain the relationship between the proposed national identity register, the information-sharing indexes to be established under the Children Act 2004, and—as the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, alluded to—other databases such as the Connexions card? The report also points out that the powers for the Secretary of State not to correct data unless he feels it is appropriate to do so may contravene children’s rights under data protection law and international conventions under Clause 2(5). Finally, I ought to comment on my Amendment No. 63, which the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, has not referred to. The amendment reflects my questions on the National Children’s Bureau report, because it places a firewall between the national identity register and a national register of children.