Clause 30 - Inspection of documents and questions at audit
Public Audit (Wales) Bill [Lords]
11:15 am
Mr Bill Wiggin (Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Local and Devolved Government Affairs; Leominster, Conservative)
I always find the Minister's responses helpful, and that is especially so of the second part. I agree that my amendment may not necessarily involve the best possible drafting, but the situation is unusual and I would have thought that the Data Protection Act offered such protection.
The only question on which I want to press the Minister is that of ''an interested person''. The first people who spring to mind are journalists and those in the media. They may be fascinated by the matter, but they may not qualify as ''an interested person''. I am surprised that he will not accept my amendment, as I am often told that transparency is the key thing that we should seek in legislation. However, his point about vexatious, difficult and perhaps even frivolous requests is important, particularly as those are increasing in modern life. I would be grateful if he clarified the status of the media in this respect.