Mr Charles Clarke (Minister of State, Home Office; Norwich South, Labour)

I beg to move amendment No. 137, in page 103, line 18, at end insert—

`Timeshare Act 1992 (c.35). Paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2 to the Timeshare Act 1992.'.

Mrs Irene Adams (Paisley North, Labour)

With this it will be convenient to consider Government amendments Nos. 138 and 139.

Mr Charles Clarke (Minister of State, Home Office; Norwich South, Labour)

These are technical amendments. Government amendments Nos. 137 and 139 provide that, under the Homes Bill and the Timeshare Act 1992, certain confidential information can be disclosed for the standardised purposes set out in subsection (2). Amendment No. 138 tidies up the drafting and is similar to an amendment already proposed by the Opposition.

Mr Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)

What sort of information is involved under the Timeshare Act 1992 and the Homes Bill?

Mr Charles Clarke (Minister of State, Home Office; Norwich South, Labour)

Amendment No. 138, which is purely technical, deals with lifted information disclosure in respect of the Gas Act 1986 and the Electricity Act 1989. As to the Timeshare Act 1992 and the Homes Bill, information about what information may be made available is relevant. For example, under the Timeshare Act, the information that local weights and measures authorities in Great Britain—the enforcement authorities for the purposes of the Act—obtain in the exercise of their functions is restricted information, but information on agreements about timeshare property can be disclosed in connection with the investigation of criminal offences.

Under the Homes Bill, the evidence of title required for standard preliminary inquiries on behalf of buyers, copies of planning lists, building regulations, consents and approvals and other such information can be disclosed. In certain circumstances, disclosure of such information could help criminal prosecutions. It is a genuinely technical issue.

Mr Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)

That sounds sensible and I have nothing to add.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendments made: No. 138, in page 105, leave out lines 5 to 8.

No. 139, in page 105, line 11, at end insert—

`Homes Act 2001 (c. 00). Paragraph 11(1) of Schedule 1 to the Homes Act 2001.'—[Mr. Charles Clarke.]

Schedule 1, as amended, agreed to.