Mr Richard Allan (Shadow Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, Cabinet Office; Sheffield, Hallam, Liberal Democrat)

I apologise to the Committee for having had to miss what I understand was a quite interesting sitting earlier today. In returning to the Committee, it is worth spending a brief moment on the clause. I know that we are trying to make progress, but I want to understand a critical point about the data that are to be held in the national identity register.

Clause 17 would allow the Secretary of State to restrict how the data held in the national identity register could be used by Departments or agencies that perform identity checks under the clause 15 powers. That raises important issues about who the data controller—to use data protection speak—for the national identity register will be. Is it the correct reading of clause 17 that a Department or agency will be able to ask for the ability to perform checks against the national identity register?

I assume that the Secretary of State is the Home Secretary, although it would be helpful to understand whether we are talking about a single Secretary of State or about generic powers for any Secretary of State. Under clause 17, will it be possible to say, ''I do not believe that the procedures in place in your Department or agency are sufficient to allow you to carry out the identity-check functions.''? According to the specific provisions of the clause, it seems that the Secretary of State may say, ''You can perform those checks only if you register and use this prescribed equipment as well as those prescribed procedures.''

It would be helpful to understand the relationship between the agencies—which, in modern government, can be remote from accountability—and the Secretary of State, who will control the national identity register and should be rigorously accountable to the public for the use and potential abuse of their data.

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