Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

Clause 14 will provide the border force with the ability to pool its customs information internally so that any such information acquired by a person to whom the clause applies can pass it to another person to be used for that other person’s function. The clause also permits any such person to disclose customs information to another person to whom the clause applies for any function exercisable by the recipient. This will enable the UK Border Agency to use its resources as effectively as possible by improving targeting and data matching across the full range of its immigration and customs functions. It will also improve customer service as it will prevent the agency having to request information from people more than once. Amendments 23 and 24 would prevent those to whom Clause 14 applies from using or disclosing customs information, whether personal or not, unless satisfied that such use or disclosure is reasonable. However, customs information may be used only by a person to whom Clause 14 applies for one or more of the functions that he or she has been given, and if that person needs to use customs information for the exercise of any such function, I believe that by definition the use of it will be reasonable. Further, any use of information under Clause 14 would also be subject to the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Data Protection Act 1998, and would thus be required to be both reasonable and proportionate. The noble Baroness, Lady Miller, asked how much the Information Commissioner would be involved in this. I am not aware of how deeply he was involved in the discussion of the Bill, and I have the Bill team finding out if he was or was not. But, as I have said, this is covered by the provisions of the Human Rights Act and the Data Protection Act, so in the sense that it is covered, it means that obviously he will have an interest and a certain authority to supervise that the Act is being complied with. I turn now to the disclosure of customs information. The data sharing framework established by Clauses 14 to 21 restricts the disclosure of personal customs information; that is, customs information that identifies or is capable of identifying the persons to whom it applies. I think that in that sense it applies to legal privilege. However, I shall get back to the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, on the particular point. It is absolutely right that the provision is protected in this way in the Bill. Amendments 23 and 24 would restrict the disclosure of non-personal customs information such as statistical data. Those statistical data are crucial in informing policy development and refinement and there is no need to restrict their disclosure provided they go only to those people who need them for the functions they have been given. Meanwhile, disclosure of personal customs information is tightly circumscribed under the Bill. Clause 15 imposes duties of confidentiality in respect of personal customs information generally and personal customs revenue information. The limited exceptions to those duties are set out clearly in Clause 16 and any disclosure made in accordance with those exceptions would certainly pass any test of reasonableness. On the points made by a number of speakers about data protection, there have been bad examples in the past but the Government have now got to grips with the issue. The great danger for all of us is that we go down the route of thinking that we must not use data. If we do not use data, we will not get all of these efficiencies. The world has changed; we cannot turn back the clock. Certainly now, with the Cabinet Office review and the work going on across government, we are gripping the issue. However, this is not only a government matter; it is also a private one. People will need a complete mindset change to understand how important data are and how easy it is for people to get hold of their data. It is something that we all have to get to grips with but, as I say, the Government have learnt their lesson and are frantically trying to do this. But we are dealing with human beings, and sometimes private individuals are not very good at looking after their own data even. It is a big learning process and we have to go through that. On the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, the list has been produced by parliamentary draftsmen. There are no policy implications but it is slightly extraordinary. I might dig a little deeper into that. It is like always having the Royal Navy to the right of the line. If someone put it the other way round I would be more than a little surprised. Lists have quite a significance sometimes. The noble Baroness asked why the phrase ““without prejudice”” is used. As she rightly pointed out, it is a legal term. Apparently it ensures the continued application of existing provisions concerning confidentiality, and that is why it has been put into the Bill. I think I have covered all of the questions. On that basis, I hope that the noble Baroness will feel able to withdraw her amendment.