HC Deb 01 February 1938 vol 331 cc127-8

Amendment made: In page 3, line 31, leave out from "to," to the end of line 5, on page 4, and insert: furnish in accordance with this Act any information which he is required by this Act to furnish; or (b) in furnishing any such information makes any statement which, to his knowledge, is false in a material particular."—[Sir K. Wood.]

8.10 p.m.

The Attorney-General

I beg to move, in page 4, line 8, to leave out Sub-section (2), and to insert: (2) No information obtained by virtue of this Act with respect to any particular person shall be disclosed except so far as may be necessary—

  1. (a) for the performance by any person of his functions under this Act in connection with the furnishing, collection or collation of such information; or
  2. (b) for the performance by the Registrar-General of his functions under section five of the Census Act, 1920;
and if any person discloses any such information in contravention of this subsection, he shall be liable on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or to both such imprisonment and such fine, or, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or to both such imprisonment and such fine: Provided that nothing in this subsection shall apply to any disclosure of information made for the purposes of any proceedings which may be taken in respect of an offence under this section, or for the purposes of any report of such proceedings. As I indicated in dealing with a previous Amendment, the opportunity has been taken to redraft the provisions of Clause 4, dealing with penalties, on the lines of the decision recently taken by the House of Lords in its judicial capacity. The general effect of this Amendment was explained by me a ew minutes ago, and indeed it speak for itself. The hon. Member for Dundee (Mr. Foot) raised a point with which I will deal now. He asked whether, under this Clause, this information could be disclosed in a court of law with the consent of the person concerned. The answer is "No." If it is once said that it can be disclosed with the consent of the person, when the person does not give that consent, everybody will say that there is something "fishy" about it. There is also another reason why the Committee may feel that it is not necessary to pause very long over this matter. In regard to all these questions which are dealt with under the Bill, such as the age of the wife at the date of marriage, and the age of the mother at the date of the birth, if it were necessary to prove them in an individual case in a court of law, they could be proved by the ordinary registration documents for that individual. The object of this Bill is not so much to get information which cannot be got otherwise, but to get it in a form in which it can be used statistically. I think that is another reason why no injustice could possibly be done by the fact that there is not in this Amendment a provision to the effect that the information can be produced with the consent of the person.

8.13 p.m.

Mr. Foot

I should like to ask another question purely as a matter of information. The proviso refers only to the disclosure of information made for the purposes of any proceedings which may be taken in respect of an offence under this section. Is it the intention that the information obtained under this Bill should not be available for the purpose of any other criminal proceedings?

The Attorney-General

Yes, Sir.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.