Clause 6 - Disclosure of information
Civil Contingencies Bill
4:15 pm
Mr Douglas Alexander (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Cabinet Office; Paisley South, Labour)
I shall first address the remarks of the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael). One of my final acts before leaving the Department to come here was to sign a letter to the hon. Gentleman in relation to points that he raised on the construction of the schedules, and I extend my apologies if that letter has not yet reached him. Perhaps we could delay discussion of the merits or demerits of the structure of the schedules until he has received that correspondence. I will then be happy to address any remaining points that he wishes to raise.
The hon. Member for Sheffield, Hallam raised a number of points. As he suggests, the clause is worthy of a few moment's deliberation. First, I make it clear that each respondent will be subject to the same obligations as apply to the safeguarding of material under the regulations. In addition, the draft regulations provide that when a responder has been asked for sensitive information, and that responder has reasonable grounds to believe that disclosing the information would impair the confidentiality of the information, the responder must not comply with the request. That was the statutory construction that caused some concern and interest to the hon. Gentleman.
The importance that we attach to ensuring the confidentiality of personal or commercial information is reflected in the phraseology of the statute. It supports the seriousness of our concern. All the safeguards contained in the Data Protection Act about fair and lawful processing and the conditions
in which information is held will continue to apply. Possible sanctions were mentioned, and the unauthorised use and disclosure of the information will constitute breach of confidence and can give rise to legal action in the normal way, subject to the usual defence of just cause. Clause 10 will apply to those who breach regulations that restrict the disclosure of information.
I hope that that has covered all the points.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 6 ordered to stand part of the Bill.