Clause 48
Energy Bill
4:15 pm
Charles Hendry (Shadow Minister, Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; Wealden, Conservative)
This seems a sensible clause generally, but surely the Secretary of State has an automatic right to request information in any circumstances. If the companies from which he has requested information choose not to provide it, they must accept that they have chosen not to have their views taken into account. I am not quite certain why the provision is necessary, because it seems almost superfluous.
Will the Minister also tell us whether the information, once it has been provided, will be made public? Will it be there for all to see or will it be provided simply to him and his Department? How does the Freedom of Information Act 2000 relate to information provided in this way?