Coroners and Justice Bill

I will speak to Amendments 198 and 201. Amendment 198 would insert the words, "not an excluded body". It would extend the powers of the Information Commissioner to assess data controllers in the private sector. As I understand it, the Information Commissioner has asked for these powers. Clause 153 will allow the Information Commissioner to conduct mandatory assessments of compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 by public bodies. Although the commissioner has the power to inspect these bodies at present, he may do so only with prior notice and consent. This new power will extend to all ministerial and non-ministerial government departments, local authorities and certain police and NHS bodies. The commissioner will be required to provide guidance on how he intends to exercise these powers. I should have said at the outset that I am a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Amendments 198 and 201 stem from discussions that the committee has had on this subject. The Government say that these assessment powers are primarily to raise awareness in the public sector and that there is no need to extend them to the private sector. I note that the CBI submitted evidence to the JCHR saying that it does not want the Information Commissioner to have authority to assess the private sector. We share the view of the CBI that adequate safeguards must always accompany powers of search and seizure, but we consider that the safeguards already in the Bill are significant and, indeed, provide greater protection than those relating to other compulsory powers of entry, search and seizure in the Bill. An assessment notice must specify the time at which a search or other inspection will take place and the time within which an individual data controller must comply. Also, rights to appeal against the terms of any notice are provided and there is express protection for legally privileged material. These are all safeguards that we have consistently called for with respect to other Bills where the Government considered that safeguards were more appropriately placed in secondary legislation. We recommend that the Government reconsider the Information Commissioner’s request that the proposed power to issue assessment notices be extended to data controllers in the private sector. Extension of these proposals to the private sector should include safeguards for data controllers’ rights to respect for private life, if necessary. We do not consider that an amendment together with any necessary safeguards should be overly complex and we propose an amendment for the purposes of debate. Amendment 201 concerns the failure by government departments or public authorities to comply with an assessment notice. It would give the Information Commissioner a power of sanction over public authorities that do not comply with assessment notices. At present, the Bill provides for no sanction for any individual data controller who fails to comply with an assessment notice. The Information Commissioner has called for a power of sanction to be applied, if only in respect of public authorities that fail to comply with assessment notices. He recommends that public authorities that ignore or fail to comply with assessment notices should be treated as if they were in contempt of court, as they currently are in respect of certain obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We consider that these additional powers for the Information Commissioner would be a human rights-enhancing measure. While we note the Government’s view that it would be unusual for a department or other public body to ignore an assessment notice or to fail to comply with its terms, there is no reassurance in the Bill that this will not be the case. The amendment has been tabled to meet the Information Commissioner’s concerns in this respect.