Serious Crime Bill [HL]

moved AmendmentNo. 99: 99: Clause 65, page 36, line 17, leave out from ““which”” to ““has”” in line 18 and insert ““makes provision about data matching)”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, before I describe the effect of the amendments in this group, I ought to put on record that they replicate in Wales and Northern Ireland the data-matching provisions in Clause 65 and Schedule 6. This group includes government amendments in relation to England, to which my noble friend Lady Scotland will speak later. Our ambition is to create a system with safeguards that apply equally to all relevant audit bodies in different jurisdictions. The amendments will have the effect of amending not only the Audit Commission Act 1998 but also the relevant legislation in Walesand Northern Ireland; namely, the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 and the Audit and Accountability (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, as specified in Schedule 6, with respect to the insertion of new powers to undertake data-matching exercises. For that reason, Amendment No. 99 amends Clause 65 to reflect the fact that Schedule 6 to the Bill willmake provision for data matching more generally,not just in respect of England under the Audit Commission Act. Amendment No. 103 governs the disclosure of information in order to allow the Audit Commission to disclose the results of data matching to local government auditors in Northern Ireland. Thisis consistent with the overall purposes of newClause 32D(2)(b) and new Clause 32D(3) as they currently stand, where we have recognised that benefits may arise from sharing the results of data matching on a cross-border basis with the relevant auditors in the devolved administrations. The amendment recognises that in addition to being able to share data-matching results with the auditor general for Northern Ireland, the Audit Commission should be able to share results with local government auditors in Northern Ireland. This reflects the audit arrangements in place in Northern Ireland and is a natural consequence of the extension of data-matching powers to relevant audit bodies there. Amendment No. 104 amends the provision governing the definition of ““body”” for the purposes of new Clause 32D so that it includes ““office””. This is in order to recognise that not all the bodies listed in new Clause 32D(3) are, strictly speaking, bodies but are office holders, such as the respective auditors general. The purpose of this amendment is to remove the potential for confusion. Amendment No. 115 to Schedule 6 amends the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 to grant the Auditor General for Wales statutory powers under which to carry out data-matching exercises and provides safeguards for the appropriate conduct of such exercises. It will ensure that data matching in Wales is conducted on a similar basis to that in England. The amendment is necessary to ensure that the national fraud initiative and the benefits it provides may continue in Wales with the necessary safeguards. The amendment includes provisions for bodies other than Welsh local authorities and Welsh NHS bodies to provide data to the auditor general for matching. Such participation will be on the proviso that the auditor general thinks it appropriate. He will have to satisfy himself that it is appropriate to accept the data and that it would meet the purpose of the data-matching exercise. It is envisaged that, in practice, the auditor general would co-operate closely with the Audit Commission, as he has done to date, to undertake the same national fraud initiative exercise in Wales that is undertaken in England. The most recent national fraud initiative cycle led Welsh public bodies to uncover fraudulent and erroneous payments totalling £2.6 million and, as in England, the auditor general used the results of the exercise to help public bodies in Wales make their systems more robust in the protection of public money. The Welsh provisions will allow the sharing of data-matching information across the Welsh border. That is necessary to reflect the cross-border facility in the English provisions, and it is important as some fraud involves multiple claims of, for example, housing benefit from local authorities on both sides of the border. The Welsh data-matching provisions providethe same safeguards as contained in the English provisions, including those added by later government amendments. The auditor general’s data-matching activity will, as ever, be subject to the processing requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998. An additional safeguard is that the activity may notbe used to profile individuals on the basis of patterns that suggest potential to commit fraud. The auditor general will have to prepare a code of practicefor data-matching, consult the Information Commissioner on it and lay it before the National Assembly for Wales. The conduct of Welsh data-matching exercises will have to have regard to that code of practice. Anyone disclosing data-matching information outside the permitted purposes in Schedule 6 will face criminal sanctions. In short, the amendment replicates for Wales the Bill’s data-matching provisions for England. Amendment No. 116 extends the application of the powers we are creating for the Audit Commission in England to Northern Ireland and incorporates the same safeguards. It will mean that Northern Ireland’s Comptroller and Auditor General will be able to use the powers to conduct data-matching to assist public bodies to detect and prevent fraud in his jurisdiction. The proposals differ from the arrangements in England only to the extent that many of the functions provided by local government in England are provided by central government in Northern Ireland. That affects the range of bodies mandatorily required to provide data to the auditor general. The amendment will also enable cross-jurisdictional data-matching and sharing of information between the Audit Commission and audit authorities in Northern Ireland. It is important that that should be the case because, as I said, fraud does not respect national boundaries. The amendment will enable a more proactive approach to be taken to fraud prevention in Northern Ireland. It is envisaged that the auditor general would co-operate closely with the Audit Commission to undertake similar national fraud initiatives in Northern Ireland to those in England, with the same potential to identify fraudulent payments and errors. The same restrictions and safeguards will apply to Northern Ireland audit bodies in applying these powers as apply in England, including compliance with the Data Protection Act. There will be criminal sanctions for disclosure of information outside permitted purposes, restrictions on the use of patient data and a code of practice governing the data-matching on which the Information Commissioner will be consulted, which will be laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly. Amendment No. 129 ensures that data-matching provisions in Wales are in line with those in England, including those on the safeguards to ensure the appropriate conduct of such activity. It enables, in respect of Wales, the inclusion of an appropriate deterrent from disclosing data-matching information outside the circumstances set out in Schedule 6. The amendment would modify the saving provision that takes account of the need for Section 282(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to commence before a maximum sentence of 12 months can be given for the offence of unauthorised disclosure of data-matching information—by virtue of Section 64D(8) of the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004. Amendment No. 134 to Clause 80 removes the confinement to England and Wales that would otherwise apply to proposed Part 3 of Schedule 6. It is needed to take account of the inclusion of data-matching provisions for Northern Ireland in Part 3. Amendment No. 99 allows for the extension of the data-matching powers being created for the Audit Commission in England to Northern Ireland and Wales. Amendment No. 116 creates this power, under proposed Part 3 of Schedule 6, by inserting the provision in the relevant Northern Ireland audit legislation. The amendment simply restricts to Northern Ireland the extent of proposed Part 3 of Schedule 6. As this amendment inserts data-matching powers into the Audit and Accountability (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, it is necessary to restrict the extent of the provision to Northern Ireland only. I beg to move.