My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken. It is refreshing that, after the debate that we have had on all the concerns and worries that noble Lords have on data sharing, we now hear proposals on how data sharing can benefit various groups. This is our ambition. This is why we set the Bill up as we did and also why the devolved Administrations are so supportive. The noble Lords, Lord Collins, Lord Kirkwood, Lord Storey, Lord Whitty and my noble friend Lord Hunt all made valuable suggestions. I will come to some of the reasons that we agree or disagree with them, but fundamentally the principle is exactly why we set the system up.
Amendment 81ZA, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Collins, seeks to require the effective maintenance of the electoral register to be specified as an objective in regulations under the public service delivery power. Electoral registration officers already have extensive powers to seek access to information in public records, providing it is for the purpose of ensuring that electoral registers are as complete and accurate as possible. Under current provisions, they would not be able to seek access to other public records for the purposes of identity verification if an applicant’s details cannot be matched against DWP records or local data sources.
6.15 pm
Before considering, however, whether to legislate to enable electoral registration officers to use a wider range of public data sources for identity verification, it is essential that a rigorous examination of the usefulness of the data for these purposes be undertaken.
The public service delivery power allows for objectives to be added via regulations so long as they meet the conditions set out in subsections (8) and (9) of Clause 30. These conditions ensure that any objective for the purposes of which information may be disclosed essentially improves the delivery of services or support provided to a person that improves their well-being. The objective as set out in the amendment is focused on meeting the administrative needs of electoral registration officers rather than necessarily delivering positive outcomes for citizens.
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, for his interest in ensuring that information can be shared to facilitate improvements in health conditions for those living in cold homes. We believe, however, that his Amendment
81A is unnecessary because this objective is already within the scope of Clause 31. The warm home discount is a support scheme for reducing fuel poverty made under Part 2 of the Energy Act 2010, and these are the schemes specifically referred to in subsection (3)(a) of Clause 31.
Amendments 82A and 82B ensure that, in addition to the gas and electricity suppliers, information may be shared with licensed electricity distributors and gas network distributors for the purposes of requirements which may be made to them by Ofgem in future. Clause 31(4) already provides the power by regulation to add electricity or gas network distributors and fuel poverty support requirements set by Ofgem to the list of schemes covered by this clause if a requirement for the disclosure of personal information to support delivery of such schemes is identified.
Amendment 82, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Storey, concerns free school meals. Take-up of free school meals is already strong, estimated at about 89%. There are numerous reasons why those entitled to free school meals may not wish to make a claim, such as a preference for their children to take packed lunches. The proposed new clause would not provide a complete solution, as it would not necessarily identify all children eligible for free school meals. For instance, not all eligible parents claim housing benefit. It is ultimately a choice for parents and guardians whether they wish to make a claim. Having said that—naturally I will repeat what the Minister said in the other place; we have joined-up government within the department at least—we want to make it as simple as possible for all parents of entitled children to register for free school meals. That is why the Department for Education provides the electronic eligibility checking system, which allows local authorities to quickly check data held by DWP, the Home Office, and HM Revenue and Customs in order to establish eligibility. The trigger remains, however, that the parents or guardian have to make a claim.
Amendment 92, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, ensures that information can be shared to provide a warm home discount to certain universal credit or tax-credit claimants, namely low-income families. Although I thank him for his interest in ensuring that information may be shared to enable automatic support for universal credit or tax credit claimants who have children, we believe the amendment is unnecessary, as this is already authorised by Clause 31(1), (2), and (3). That clause enables persons specified in regulations to disclose information to gas and electricity suppliers for the purpose of providing rebates under the warm home discount scheme. The Government recognise that low-income families can face some of the highest costs of keeping warm. In reply to his specific question, I reassure the noble Lord that later this year there will be a consultation on future changes to the warm home discount scheme. The powers in the Bill allow the support to be extended to some working-age vulnerable households without the need for them to step forward and apply. This could be done by using DWP and HMRC data on a wider range of benefits recipients to inform energy suppliers of their eligibility for support.
I now turn to Amendment 196A, which was tabled by my noble friend Lord Hunt of Wirral. I and all noble Lords recognise the importance of helping
employees suffering from industrial injuries or diseases to find their employers’ liability insurers where their employer may no longer exist, for example, and I hope I can offer reassurance to my noble friend. Since 2015, when we debated this as part of the then Enterprise Bill, HMRC and the Employer Liability Tracing Office—ELTO—have been collaborating to devise a solution that helps to streamline claims to insurers from employees suffering from industrial injuries. HMRC tells me that a proof of concept has already been devised to investigate the feasibility of this project. It envisages ELTO providing a small sample of employer details to HMRC to determine whether there is a significant matching rate between its database and HMRC’s records. This would help build the case for an information gateway to help populate its database. This amendment anticipates the results of this exercise with the risk of developing a solution that is not fit for purpose in the long run. Any future clause will also need to include appropriate safeguards to protect taxpayers’ confidentiality, in line with the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005, which my noble friend mentioned. HMRC has assured me that it will continue working with ELTO to develop a suitable gateway to address the legal, policy and practical perspectives currently being scoped.
I now turn to the government amendments in this group. The noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, asked whether it is necessary to have a water meter. I am informed that you do not have to have one. I think the best thing would be for me to explain in writing to her how we think this will work without a water meter, and I will put a copy of that letter in the Library of the House for all noble Lords to read. The Government are committed to using the public service delivery powers where a need is identified that improves the lives of citizens.
During the passage of the Bill, we have had representations that more could be done to help citizens in water poverty. The powers in these new water and sewerage clauses have a clear objective: to help improve the take-up of various schemes offered by the water sector that provide assistance to householders in low-income and other vulnerable circumstances. Research by the Consumer Council for Water shows that take-up of such social tariffs is improving, but remains low. This is in spite of considerable effort by the sector to improve awareness of the support available—for example, through its presence in jobcentres, food banks and advice centres as well as through advertising in socially deprived areas. The present system is heavily reliant on eligible households putting themselves forward for help. As a result, large numbers of people are missing out on support, which could include a cap on their bill or a discount on their bill of between 15% and 90%.
These new measures will enable water companies to reach out directly to customers who are likely to be eligible for assistance schemes. This will make it easier for customers in low-income and vulnerable circumstances to access the support to which they are entitled and will improve the accuracy, efficiency and effectiveness of the targeting and delivery of social tariffs. Support for the introduction of such measures has been wide ranging, from the consumer body CCWater, Ofwat—the
economic regulator for the sector—and the sector itself. These proposed new clauses will, of course, be subject to the safeguards already in the chapter which provide a strong and safe framework for protecting any information which is disclosed. The clause largely mirrors the provisions in Clauses 31 and 32 for gas and electricity companies, and there are a number of consequential amendments.
I hope the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw his amendment.