Clause 2
Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill
12:00 pm
Shaun Woodward (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Media & Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; St Helens South, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman deserves a medal for temptation. He puts before me numerous opportunities to go far and wide and journey through many areas. However, I am sure, Mr. Conway, that you quite rightly will want to remind us that clause 2 is actually very clear. It defines the key expressions used in clause 1. The temptation is great to discuss at this stage how many people will be covered and what parts of the UK it will refer to, but I think that you would swiftly rule me out of order were I to respond, so I shall resist.
Clause 2 defines the key expressions used in clause 1, and provides a power that we envisage will be exercised by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to define precisely the types of social security and war pensions information that can be supplied. As such, clause 2 plays the important role of allowing for the scope of information to be defined in detail, rather than leaving it to the discretion of the Department for Work and Pensions and scheme operators.
The hon. Member for Wantage raised an important issue that, as a former Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with responsibility for security, I am particularly concerned about: whether a risk might be caused, inadvertently or otherwise, to individuals in Northern Ireland as a consequence of being identified by the scheme. Indeed, concerns about war veterans other than those from Northern Ireland were raised by staff in my Department as well as by hon. Members on Second Reading. As a result, officials in my Department and others investigated to ensure that there is no possibility that sensitive data will be released to a switchover provider. The Veterans Agency of the Ministry of Defence was particularly conscious of the risks to people in Northern Ireland, but it is satisfied that a switchover provider should not receive any information that would place a Northern Ireland security veteran at risk by identifying individuals as ex-service personnel.
Another point raised by the hon. Member for Bath relates to the nature of the legislation. The details of the secondary legislation mean that the type of information that can be supplied can be widened or narrowed depending on operational requirements, without the need for further primary legislation. However, the type of information cannot be changed at will—it must be the subject of an order, which will be subject to the negative resolution form of parliamentary scrutiny and control. There is no intention to include sensitive personal information in such orders. I hope that that has answered the hon. Gentleman’s questions.