Identity Cards Bill

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do not insist on its Amendment No. 3 and do agree to Amendment No. 3A proposed by the Commons in lieu thereof. Lords Amendment No. 3 inserted into Clause 1(3)(b) the proposition that the methods by which registrable facts are recorded and stored must be secure and reliable. We opposed this on Report, on the grounds that it was unnecessary. The Secretary of State must do his utmost to ensure the security and reliability of information recorded and stored on the register, following from his general public law duty, as well as from enactments such as the Data Protection Act. There is no need to state it in this Bill. However, if an amendment of this nature was to be made, we did not think that this one was at the right place in the clause. It is in a subsection which relates to the provision of information from the register, not the storage of information on it. During consideration of this House’s amendment in another place, government Amendment No. 3A was substituted. This clarifies that the record of registrable facts to be used for identification and verification must be secure and reliable. With respect, it captures the desired effect of your Lordships’ amendment, and was accepted in the other place without a Division. I therefore invite the House to accept it. Moved, That this House do not insist on its Amendment No. 3 and do agree to Amendment No. 3A proposed by the Common in lieu thereof.—(Baroness Scotland of Asthal.)