POWERS OF ENTRY FOR PERSONS CARRYING OUT OBSERVATIONS (Hansard, 22 July 1999)

§ Ms Jowell
I beg to move amendment No. 19, in page 5, line 3, leave out from 'out' to end of line and insert 'any observations under section 10 specified in the authorisation. (1A) No authorisation under this section shall be issued except in pursuance of a decision taken by the Agency itself or by a committee, sub-committee or member of the Agency acting on behalf of the Agency.'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 20 to 27.

§ Ms Jowell
We had a full and detailed debate in Committee on the operation of clauses 11 and 14, to ensure specifically first, that only the agency, or one of its committees or sub-committees, or a member acting on behalf of the agency, authorised the use of powers of entry. Secondly, the Committee wished to ensure that the authorisation would be limited to a particular purpose if it was issued under clause 11—in relation to carrying out observations—which would be stated in the authorisation itself. We agreed that receipts for samples or copies of documents would be given on request.
Clause 11 deals with powers of entry for the purposes of carrying out observations, and clause 14 deals with monitoring the performance of enforcement authorities. The amendments bring the improvements that we debated in Committee in line with the powers set out in clauses 11 and 14.
When considering clause 11, we explained in detail the way in which we expected the powers of entry to be used. We stressed that they were not to be used for enforcement purposes, but were about information gathering to inform the agency's policy development role.

§ Mr. Paul Tyler (North Cornwall)
The Minister will be aware of my interest in the case of her Department v. Aldridge, involving Duckett's cheese. Can I be reassured that the evidence that has been revealed through that long saga has been taken into account in drawing up the details of clause 11? The right hon. Lady will be aware that there are real concerns in the industry about the way in which enforcement powers in previous legislation have been used. I think that most people recognise that big sledgehammers were used to crack small nuts.

§ Ms Jowell
The hon. Gentleman will know that the Department of Health won the recent appeal following the 1449 judicial review. The judgment reflected the fact that there had been an imminent risk to health, and that the application of the powers that the Department and I took were proportionate in light of the degree of risk. Given that it was the first time that the power had been applied and that it has major consequences for businesses, we have sought to examine the effects of its operation.
Let no one be in any doubt about the risk to health that was posed by the contamination of cheese by E. coli 0157—contamination that left a 12-year-old boy on dialysis and seriously ill in hospital. We acted, and we were right to act. The experience of operating the power informed our consideration of the way in which the agency should carry out observation as part of its surveillance function.
I shall deal briefly with the amendments relating to clause 14. Authorisations issued under clause 14 do not need to state the purpose, because the power of entry is already clearly limited to monitoring the performance of enforcement authorities. Amendments Nos. 21 and 25 meet our commitment that receipts for samples or copies of documents should be provided on request.
Amendments Nos. 23 and 24 to clause 11 and amendments Nos. 26 and 27 to clause 14 are minor drafting changes. I explained in Committee that we would introduce drafting changes to clarify ambiguities. On several occasions in Committee, the Opposition proposed a code of practice governing the exercise of the powers. It was agreed that there should be clear rules governing the behaviour of authorised persons exercising powers of entry.
With these Government amendments, the Bill will provide rules, which we expect to be supplemented by general guidance. In light of that, we do not see the need for a statutory code of practice. We agree that there should be guidance, and that that should be available to members of the public.

§ Mrs. Spelman
I shall be brief, as we are keen for discussion to proceed to the next set of amendments, which are a significant group.
We welcome the Government's amendments, which respond to some of the concerns that we raised in Committee about the powers of entry. We are pleased that the ambiguities that we pointed out in the original drafting of clauses 11 and 14 will be resolved satisfactorily. The Government's amendments improve on the proposal for a code of practice. The Bill itself will make it clear how Food Standards Agency officers should conduct themselves upon entering commercial premises.
It would be right to record the residual concern of the Food and Drink Federation about the confidentiality of information that might be collected when the officers enter premises. The fact that a receipt will be given, as we requested in one of our original amendments, should allay some of the fears about transparency. We are grateful for the Government's concessions and take some pride in having had a hand in amending the Bill to ensure that the powers being granted to the FSA are less likely to be abused in relation to commercial interests.

§ Ms Jowell
May I clarify that point? It was one of the issues that we took on board following the Special Select Committee. Unofficial disclosure of commercially 1450 sensitive information collected in the course of observation will be an offence. That is clearly stated in the Bill.

§ Mrs. Spelman
We perfectly understand that, and we are pleased that that requirement extends also to anybody who might now accompany the authorised FSA officer. We asked for that and we are glad to see it.
For the sake of total transparency in all our doings, I should like to record that, in expressing our gratitude for these concessions, we pushed our luck quite far in Committee. It was suggested by my right hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Mr. Maclean) that the Government's recognition of that might extend to inviting us to the party that traditionally follows the passage of a Bill through the House. I take this opportunity to record our gratitude for having received invitations to that party. It may be quite an historic occasion, and we record our thanks.

§ Dr. Brand
I rise briefly to welcome the amendments and say that they have made worth while the many hours—occasionally not very interesting hours—that we spent in Committee.