PUBLICATION ETC. BY THE AGENCY OF ADVICE AND INFORMATION (Hansard, 8 November 1999)

§ Ms Quin
I beg to move, That this House agrees with the Lords in the said amendment.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With this, it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 13, 14, 19, 23, 26, 28, 29 and 42.

§ Ms Quin
This group of amendments is composed largely of minor drafting points. However, I should like to comment briefly on Lords amendments Nos. 12 and 13, which were tabled by the Opposition in another place on Report, and agreed to by the Government.
The Government made it clear that our intention was that the Data Protection Act 1998 should apply, so that in using its powers to publish under clause 19, the agency should not be able to disclose personal data. The amendments make a useful clarification of that point. The inclusion of a special reference to the 1998 Act makes it absolutely clear that the agency will be subject to the data protection principles that the Act contains, and that the agency must, therefore, maintain the personal privacy of individuals about whom it has obtained information in the course of its work.
As I said, the amendments largely concern technical drafting points. Lords amendments Nos. 14, 19, 28 and 29 do not change the Bill's substance at all. Lords amendment No. 42, however, makes it absolutely clear that the agency will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration by adding the ombudsman to the list of bodies covered by the PCA.