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Ministry of Peace
John McDonnell accordingly presented a Bill to establish a Ministry of Peace with the function of promoting conflict resolution and the avoidance of military conflict: And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time on Friday 21 November, and to be printed [Bill 163].
Orders of the Day
Crime (International Co-operation) Bill [Lords]
New Clause 1
Driver Licensing Information
- 'Information held in any form—by the Secretary of State under Part 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52), or (b) by the Department of the Environment under Part 2 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (S.I. 1981/154 (N.I.1)), (licensing of drivers of vehicles) may be disclosed for the purposes of the Schengen information systems (within the meaning of section 81)';—[Caroline Flint.]
3.45 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Caroline Flint): I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Mr. Speaker: With this it will be convenient to consider amendment No. 33, in clause 57, page 38, line 25, at end insert
- 'or in any other State in which the offender has temporarily resided'.
The statutory gateway already contained in section 71 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, allowing disclosure of information held by the Secretary of State for the purposes of part 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, is not sufficient for the UK's Schengen obligations. It allows information to be disclosed for use by constables only and, in limited circumstances, for further disclosure by them. Furthermore, section 71 does not extend to driving licences issued in Northern Ireland.
Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody (Crewe and Nantwich): I would be very interested to know when the decision was taken to include such greatly expanded information, which carries with it considerable implications. Anyone holding a licence for any vehicle in the United Kingdom now runs the very real risk of that information being transmitted to a foreign Government without their permission.
Caroline Flint: It is necessary to legislate through insertion of the new clause because the sharing of data on driving licences for the purpose of the SIS is not within the scope of existing legislation. There is no power to disclose information that has been collected under statute—in this case, the 1988 Act—for purposes not covered by statute. Section 71 of the 2000 Act does
allow for the disclosure of information held by the Secretary of State for the purpose of part 3 of the 1988 Act, but that is not sufficient for Schengen. That is for use by constables only, with limited provision for further disclosure by constables. Our Schengen obligations are wider than that, encompassing various enforcement agencies in the UK and other states. Furthermore, section 71 does not cover driving licences issued in Northern Ireland. We have therefore drafted a new clause that provides the necessary statutory power to disclose information. Such disclosure is expressly limited to the purposes of the SIS.
Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham) rose—
Caroline Flint: If I may, I should like to finish.
The SIS is defined in clause 81 of the Bill, and these additional arrangements will be subject to the same data protection arrangements as apply to the national section of the SIS in general. The arrangements will allow the office of the Information Commissioner to inspect all data contained on the UK national section of the SIS to ensure that the processing of personal data is in compliance with processing requirements under the existing legislation. It is the right of any individual about whom incorrect information is placed on the SIS to apply for it to be removed or corrected. It has always been the case that such information would be on the SIS; it was realised only at a late stage that existing statutory provisions were not adequate.
Mrs. Dunwoody: My hon. Friend is confirming precisely what I said: that this power did not exist and needs to be written into new legislation. At what point was the House of Commons made aware that these commitments under Schengen had been fully accepted? As I understood it, we had not fully accepted them. Is my hon. Friend saying that we now accept all the implications of Schengen? If so, this is a matter of considerable interest. At what point did we decide to ask the House whether this information should be passed on?
Caroline Flint: As I said, it was realised at a late stage that existing statutory provision was not adequate. [Interruption.]
Caroline Flint: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is for that reason that we are introducing the new clause—so that we can make good progress in realising the UK's connection to the SIS, which is envisaged for November 2004. Before we receive live data, the UK's implementing of the SIS will undergo a rigorous evaluation, conducted by partner member states. To fulfil the requirements of the evaluation process, we must demonstrate our ability to place the required data on the SIS. It has been clear since the then Home Secretary made a statement in March 1999 that we would opt into those parts of the Schengen information
system. By introducing the new clause, we hope to meet our obligations in that regard, and I can add nothing further to that picture.
Mr. Bercow: Will the Minister give way?
Caroline Flint: No, I have answered the question—[Interruption.]
Mr. Bercow: I thank the hon. Lady for giving way with her customary courtesy, albeit on this occasion after a little pressure. Further to the interventions of the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody), I recognise that the Under-Secretary has a departmental brief to which she wishes to adhere, and I intend no discourtesy, but does she understand that if our profession is ever again to regain public respect, we need public understanding? I appeal to her in the context of new clause 1 and amendment No. 33 to make her speech self-contained and intelligible to members of the public who will be interested to know about the impact on them of what she is describing.
Caroline Flint: I did try to explain those particular circumstances. As I said, it has always been the case that this sort of information would be on the Schengen information system. As I also said, we realised at a late stage that existing statutory provision did not apply to those circumstances. The aim is to make use of information from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and from Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland to enter data required for Schengen purposes. I have already fully explained that.
Let me now deal with amendment No. 33, which relates to part 3 of the Bill on driving disqualification. Clause 57(2) reflects the requirement in the EU convention on driving disqualifications to take account, when calculating the period to be enforced in the UK, of any period of disqualification already served in the state of the offence. That is to ensure that the total period of disqualification served does not exceed that originally imposed in the state of the offence.
The amendment would require that any period of disqualification served in another member state in which an offender temporarily resided be also taken into account in determining the period of disqualification to be enforced in the UK. I hope that I have explained that clearly.
The amendment is flawed because a disqualification of a non-resident driver by one country does not automatically have effect in another country. Under the EU convention, only the offender's normal state of residence will be notified of a foreign disqualification and be required to enforce it. For the purposes of the convention, the state of residence is the place where the driver is resident for at least 185 days in each calendar year. If an offender is not normally resident in the UK, the authorities here will not be informed of the disqualification. The only consideration, therefore, in determining the unexpired period of a foreign disqualification will be how much of the disqualification the driver served in the state that convicted him.
A driver who is disqualified abroad may lawfully continue driving anywhere outside the state that convicted him until his own state of residence has
enforced the disqualification under the EU convention. So the opportunity to serve a period of disqualification as a temporary resident in another state will not arise. Once he has been disqualified by his state of residence, he loses his entitlement to drive anywhere because his licence has been removed. After disqualification takes effect in the UK, the driver will remain disqualified in the UK until the end of the period of disqualification—regardless of whether he resides temporarily in another member state during that period. To that end, I urge support for new clause 1 and oppose the amendment.
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