HL Deb 29 June 1984 vol 453 c1175

23 Clause 28, page 22, line 9, at end insert— (" (IA) Personal data which—

  1. (a) are held for the purpose of discharging statutory functions; and
  2. (b) consist of information obtained for such a purpose from a person who had it in his possession for any of the purposes mentioned in subsection (1) above,
are exempt from the subject access provisions to the same extent as personal data held for any of the purposes mentioned in that subsection.").

Lord Elton

My Lords, I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 23 to Clause 28.

This amendment bears on perhaps the most contentious clause in the Bill. Nonetheless, I hope that the slight change it makes is not one which noble Lords will find difficult to accept. Clause 28(1), of course, says that personal data held for any of the specified purposes are exempt from subject access if subject access would be likely to prejudice any of those purposes. Agencies which hold the data for those purposes. however. may pass the information to other bodies who need it for different purposes. For instance, the police may have to pass sensitive information to the Police Complaints Board; or the Inland Revenue may be required to disclose data exempt from subject access to the ombudsman. Neither the ombudsman nor the Police Complaints Board necessarily hold the data for a purpose stated in Clause 28(1) and they might, therefore, be unable to refuse a request for access on those grounds. Yet the infomation is no less sensitive for being in their hands.

Therefore, Amendment No. 23 ensures that where a person obtains information exempt from subject access under Clause 28(1) for the purpose of discharging his statutory functions, the data continue to be exempt to the same extent as they were before the closure took place. The provision is deliberately limited to persons carrying out functions conferred by Parliament in order not to give rise to fears that the scope of Clause 28(1) will be unduly extended thereby.

Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said amendment.—(Lord Elton.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.