I am obliged to the noble Baronesses for their interest in this part of the Bill. As your Lordships will be aware, Clause 68 gives the UK Statistics Authority the powers to access important data needed to produce official statistics to support decision-making.
On Amendment 199, new Section 45B gives UKSA a right of access to information held by Crown bodies. A Crown body must respond in writing to a formal notice issued by the UK Statistics Authority and explain any refusal to give the authority information. If the Crown body’s explanation is inadequate or it fails to respond or comply, the UK Statistics Authority may lay the request and any response before the relevant legislature. A Crown body must therefore either comply with the notice or explain its refusal in writing. Where the Statistics Authority puts that correspondence before Parliament, then Parliament can judge the body’s actions openly and transparently. We consider that this is the right approach, creating effective, proportionate accountability and transparency.
Of course, my noble friend Lady Byford would argue that the amendment is a more effective means of requiring a Crown body to give the Statistics Authority the information. We cannot accept that it is either necessary or desirable. The Statistics Authority is part of the Crown, as are government departments. As my noble friend anticipated, it would be extremely novel, and possibly unprecedented, to legislate to compel one part of the Crown to obey another. Even the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 excludes the Crown from being subject to enforcement measures such as prosecution, instead providing long-standing structures to help departments to work with each other administratively. In this context, new Section 45B strikes the right balance. I hope that explanation reassures my noble friend.
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On Amendments 208 and 209, there may have been some misunderstanding. New Section 45D allows the UK Statistics Authority to require information from undertakings, excluding micro-businesses and small businesses. It defines small and micro-businesses using Section 33 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, and these definitions cover
charities along with other voluntary and community bodies. Accordingly, they are excluded, and the examples that my noble friend gave would, on the face of it, be excluded from these provisions.
There is a further point to be made about this, which I shall come to in a moment. The Statistics Authority is committed to using its powers in a proportionate and fair way that minimises burdens associated with producing statistics and has set this out in its draft statement of principles. In the first instance, the UKSA would look to obtain information from large, preferably national, data holders rather than seek it from multiple small data holders. This reflects the policy intention there should be no new burdens on small undertakings, including charities. New Section 45D reflects this principled approach by excluding small undertakings, based on limited headcount and finances. As I said before, that would include charities as well as other voluntary organisations.
One point that I would note is that Section 33 of the 2015 Act has not yet been commenced. We are exploring transitional arrangements to address this, and intend to return to this matter on Report. However, in the present circumstances, I invite my noble friend to withdraw the amendment.