Part of Health and Social Care Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 1:15 pm on 31 March 2011.
I do not resile from what I said earlier. I stand by it, and it is on the record.
The Opposition amendment seeks to prevent the Secretary of State or commissioning board from directing the Information Centre not to publish information that it collects when that information would otherwise have been published. I fully sympathise with the desire to ensure that information is not withheld simply because the commissioner of that information does not like what it says. It is for that reason that a number of safeguards have been built into the Bill to ensure that this further amendment is unnecessary.
For example, the Information Centre may provide advice about the publication of information under clause 245, and the Secretary of State and the commissioning board are obliged to have regard to that. The Information Centre is also under an obligation provided by clause 244 to maintain a register that contains a description of the information that it has collected, and I referred to that register in this morning’s sitting. It would therefore be very obvious if an attempt were made to suppress the publication of data collection.
There will, however, be rare occasions when it is entirely appropriate for the Secretary of State to direct that information should be collected, but not published. For example, there might be information about a serious epidemic or a threat to public health. The release of such information will occur, but that needs to be done carefully to prevent unnecessary alarm.
I hope that hon. Members are reassured that the powers are needed and would not be abused, and that they feel able not to press their amendment to a Division.