House of Commons Hansard Debates for 5 Apr 2000 (pt 20)

'also have regard to the desirability of'

'in particular have regard to the public interest in'.

No. 49, in page 8, line 13, leave out from beginning to "within" and insert--

'A public authority must comply with this section'.--[Mr. Mike Hall.]

Clause 14

Amendments made: No. 50, in page 8, line 18, leave out--
'in pursuance of a decision'.
No. 51, in page 8, line 20, leave out--
'in pursuance of a decision'.--[Mr. Mike Hall.]

Clause 15

Refusal of request

The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Mr. David Lock): I beg to move amendment No. 52, in page 8, line 35, leave out from "that" to "or" in line 36 and insert--

'by virtue of any provision of Part II the duty to confirm or deny does not arise'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Alan Haselhurst): With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 55 to 60, 62, 67, 85 and 86.

Mr. Lock: I can say fairly confidently that I will not detain the House as long on this group of amendments as it was detained on the previous group. They are technical amendments--[Interruption.]

Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Gentleman. Could we please have more quiet? This is a debate and the Minister needs to be heard.

Mr. Lock: The amendments are technical and are tabled in response to matters raised in Committee. I draw the attention of the House to amendments Nos. 55 to 59, which were tabled in response to a concern raised by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath), who inquired whether information made publicly available in London was "reasonably accessible" if the person seeking it resided in Newcastle, for example. The amendments make the information available only if it is reasonably accessible to the individual applicant who seeks it. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that matter and the background to it, which is dealt with in amendment No. 60. As the amendments are technical and, I hope, reasonably uncontroversial, I will leave it at that. I will be more than happy to respond if hon. Members want clarification of the purpose behind any of the amendments.

Mr. David Heath: I rise only to thank the Minister for listening to what I said in Committee and incorporating it in the Bill. I am most grateful.

Mr. Hawkins: I can be equally brief. We welcome the fact that the Government have responded to matters raised

5 Apr 2000 : Column 1036

in Committee. The hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) made some good points. My hon. Friend the Member for Ryedale (Mr. Greenway), who took the Bill through the Committee for the Opposition, certainly supported the hon. Gentleman in his concerns and we are delighted that the Government have responded with the amendments.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendments made: No. 53, in page 9, line 1, leave out from "which" to end of line 4 and insert--

'(a) decides under section 13(3) that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in disclosing the fact that the authority does or does not hold information of the description specified in a request for information does not outweigh the public interest in maintaining an exemption, or
(b) decides under section 13(4) that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in disclosing any information does not outweigh the public interest in maintaining an exemption,'.

No. 54, in page 9, line 21, at end insert--

'(7) A notice under subsection (1), (3) or (5) must--
(a) contain particulars of any procedure provided by the public authority for dealing with complaints about the handling of requests for information or state that the authority does not provide such a procedure, and
(b) contain particulars of the right conferred by section 50.'.--[Mr. Mike Hall.]