Statistics and Registration Service Bill

I gave the clearest illustration that I could. I will write to the noble Baroness if there are other illustrations, but this is the key one in respect of the necessity for having exception. On the more general issues raised by the noble Lord, Lord Newby, we believe that there are adequate and proper safeguards in place for personal information. They are vital, as the noble Lord emphasised. That is why the Bill ensures the strongest possible protections for confidentiality of personal information consistent with the public interest in allowing the existing flows of data to and from the board to continue and allowing the possibility of increasing the sharing of data for, I emphasise, statistical purposes only. The Joint Committee on Human Rights concluded that the Bill did not raise sufficiently significant human rights issues for the committee to examine it further. A committee that, as we know, examines Bills with the greatest care thought that this Bill had a clean bill of health as it stands. As I said on Second Reading, overall the Information Commissioner welcomes the fact that the Bill recognises the importance of ensuring personal information is used only where necessary and confidentiality is respected. The Information Commissioner welcomed the creation of a criminal offence for the illegal disclosure of personal information in Clause 36, which he believes should act as a significant deterrent to those working for the board and to anyone else in receipt of the information who needs to act on it for statistical purposes only. The Government’s approach to the data-sharing and confidentiality clauses is clear. We intend to ensure that the existing flows of data to and from the ONS are replicated in the new system. We do not want to damage the flows of information on which the ONS has been dependent in the past. We want to allow for the possibility of increased sharing of data to and from the board and other public authorities where that sharing is for the purpose of statistical production and analysis and anywhere that it is judged to be in the public interest and approved by Parliament through secondary legislation. We have introduced strong confidentiality safeguards to ensure that people have confidence that their data will be held securely. The noble Lord, Lord Newby, gave voice to obvious anxieties on that score, which need to be allayed. These are the principles on which we are working. We are building on the long history of the ONS, which, as the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, or the noble Viscount, Lord Eccles, said, was an excellent brand name. I see that the noble Baroness takes responsibility for that phrase, and I congratulate her. We do not want in any way, shape or form to do anything other than enhance that. The ONS has had a long history of properly protecting data. We are taking this opportunity to increase the confidentiality safeguards on personal information, introducing into the Bill a criminal sanction for wrongful disclosure. I emphasise that we fully appreciate the noble Lord’s concerns. Others have looked at the Bill carefully and have given a favourable response to the issues of confidentiality. I hope that he will therefore feel able to withdraw the amendment.