Clause 28
Energy Bill
4:15 pm
Charles Hendry (Shadow Minister, Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; Wealden, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 23, in clause 28, page 15, line 8, leave out ‘4’ and insert ‘10’.
This simple amendment would change the period of confidentiality from four to 10 years. Essentially, this is a probing amendment that we have been asked to propose by those involved in the industry. The Bill currently states that information can be excluded from the register if it would prejudice to an unreasonable degree a person’s commercial interest. However, that requirement expires after four years. In relation to the issues that we are talking about and the technologies that are involved, it seems that commercial confidentiality should in many cases last for more than four years. I would be grateful if the Minister could clarify why four years has been chosen when it might be appropriate to have a longer period in which that information could be treated as confidential.