Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

I have just confirmed with my right hon. Friend the Lord Chancellor that, in the next sentence of that quote, he said that he had not committed to creating a criminal offence. I can assure the right hon. Member for Blackburn that we have thought long and hard about how to achieve this, and I am aware of the concerns raised in the Justice Committee's recent report on referral fees and the theft of personal data. The Committee's Chairman made the point again today that the penalties for breaching section 55 of the Data Protection Act were not sufficient. The Government are keeping the question of whether to introduce custodial penalties for section 55 offences under review, and we will respond to the Justice Committee's report in due course. However, the issue of how to deal with people such as rogue motor garage workers or nurses who are breaking the law by breaching the Data Protection Act is separate from that of how to introduce a new ban on regulated bodies to prevent them from paying referral fees, which they are currently permitted to do. I strongly believe that our ban, which will stop lawyers, claims management companies and insurance companies from paying and receiving referral fees, will remove the incentives for selling personal data from the whole system. That is because there will be no one for the rogue garage, for instance, to sell the data to, as all the people in the system who can make any profit out of handling claims will be prevented from paying referral fees. My hon. Friend the Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) well set out the complexity involved in this instance. The right hon. Member for Blackburn has also tabled an amendment to alter the way in which legitimate payments for services are defined. The effect of amendment (b) to new clause 19 would be that payments for services would be permitted only if they were"““proportionate and reasonable in the circumstances.””" The Government recognise that there are some completely legitimate practices that involve payments between lawyers and third parties, such as obtaining medical reports, which should continue. However, clause 19 aims to prevent the exchange of referral fees under the guise of those services. The onus would be on the regulated person to show it was made for the provision of services. The effect of subsection (9) of the Government's new clause 19 would be to enable the Lord Chancellor to make regulations specifying the maximum amount that may be paid for certain services, without it being treated as a referral fee. Therefore amendment (b) is unnecessary. I must say that I am convinced of the need to have the power to make further regulations, should the need arise. My right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Sir Alan Beith) rightly brought up the question of extending the scope, and I can tell him that there are no current plans to extend the scope beyond personal injury, although, as he says, this is provided for in the Bill and might be relevant in due course. We are repeatedly warned that the industry will find ways to circumvent the ban, and payments for services are one way in which it might do this, so having the power to set up regulations is, I agree, correct. I hope I have reassured the right hon. Member for Blackburn that we have the mechanics in place to stop these referral fees continuing to be paid under the guise of payments for services. I urge the right hon. Gentleman not to press his amendments. Question put and agreed to. Clause accordingly read a Second time. Amendment proposed to new clause 18: (e), line 16, at end insert—"'(2A) A breach of the provisions of this section shall be an offence, punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or on indictment for a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years, or a fine, or both.'.—(Mr. Straw.)" The House divided: Ayes 208, Noes 302.