Identity Cards Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 6:00 pm on 16 November 2005.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Baroness Scotland of Asthal Baroness Scotland of Asthal Minister of State (Criminal Justice and Offender Management), Home Office, Minister of State (Home Office) (Criminal Justice and Offender Management) 6:00, 16 November 2005

I apologise to the noble Lord for not answering his question, but I shall do so now. It had slipped my mind, so before I forget his second question I shall make a note of it.

Section 17 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act is dealt with specifically in Clause 20 of the Bill. Information can be disclosed for those purposes. We shall have an opportunity to debate the issue later as we have specific provisions in relation to it. We also have specific amendments in relation to illegal working, which we shall come to later. I know that we shall have a wide-ranging debate on employers and employees.

One of the most useful things will be identifying that the person is who he asserts to be. The card will do that. Secondly, it will provide information through the register on whether the person is entitled to work. We shall debate those issues later. If the noble Lord can cool his ardour until we reach that point, we shall have a fuller discussion.