Clause 80 ordered to stand part of the Bill. - Clause 81 - Inspection of overseas information systems
Crime (International Co-operation) Bill [Lords]
9:15 am
Ms Caroline Flint (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (reducing organised and international crime, anti drugs co-ordination and international and European issues), Home Office; Don Valley, Labour)
Good morning, Mr. Benton. I am looking forward to our proceedings today.
The hon. Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice) gave a helpful introduction. To make the matter clear from the outset, the commissioner referred to is the Information Commissioner. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gave the existing role of Data Commissioner new powers and changed the name to Information Commissioner. Under the Data Protection Act 1998, any function of the Information Commissioner may, to the extent authorised by him, be performed by any of his officers or staff. That principle will apply to the new powers of the commissioner under clause 81.
The powers under clause 81 are similar to those granted to the Information Commissioner under schedule 9 of the 1998 Act, and that schedule provides for a warrant to be issued to the commissioner in respect of premises and materials when an offence under the Act is suspected. In that case, a warrant would provide authorisation to
''the Commissioner or any of the Commissioner's officers or staff''.
That makes it clear that the commissioner is not expected to carry out all inspection duties in person,
which, as the hon. Gentleman rightly said, would be impossible. I hope that that clarifies the situation.
The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) questioned the quality of data on the Schengen information system. There have been concerns in the past about the quality of that data, and the United Kingdom is taking steps to try to ensure that UK entries are accurate. There are three levels at which the accuracy of data will be assured. Primary responsibility for accuracy will rest with the police force that makes the entry. The training given to the police in relation to the Schengen information system will stress the importance of accurate and complete records. Technical checks will be made by the national SIS before data are passed to the central SIS to establish, for example, that all mandatory fields are complete. The European SIS siren working group has also taken steps to improve the quality of the SIS data and a programme of action was initiated in April last year. Monthly checks are made at the central SIS to highlight individual records when fields have not been properly completed. Obviously, it is important to keep a close eye on the matter to ensure that information is as accurate as possible.