Clause 30 - Inspection of documents and questions at audit
Public Audit (Wales) Bill [Lords]
11:15 am
Mr Don Touhig (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales), Department for Constitutional Affairs; Islwyn, Labour/Co-operative)
Amendment No. 32 would widen the scope of the category of person entitled to inspect or copy the accounts and related documents of a local government body. If the amendment were to be accepted, a person would not need to be interested in the sense of having a practical interest in the accounts or affairs of the body concerned—for example, he would not have to be a local taxpayer, a resident or a person with a commercial interest in the affairs of the body audited. A body would have to accommodate anyone who wished to inspect and take copies.
The clause enables interested persons to inspect or make copies of documents relating to the accounts at an audit or of a local government body. It also gives a local government elector or his representative the right to question the auditor about the accounts. In practice, the reference to an interested person is very unlikely to represent a practical impediment to a person wishing to exercise a reasonable right of inspection. The terminology, however, entitles a local government body or auditor to resist any vexatious or frivolous requests.
Amendment No. 33 would widen the definition of personal information that a person is not entitled to obtain through inspection of the accounts or related documents, or questions to an auditor. The amendment is ambiguous, as, unlike the clause, it does not clarify or define the limits of what constitutes personal information; it could lead to confusion and misunderstanding. Much of what a lay person would consider personal information is protected by the Data Protection Act. Additional protection by third parties is not necessary in the context of the Bill.
I hope that the hon. Gentleman finds my response helpful and that he will consider withdrawing the amendment.