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Identity Cards Bill

Clause 17 (1), which starts by saying:"““The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision authorising a person providing a public service””." It continues with paragraphs (a) and (b) and then says that they may,"““be provided with information recorded in the Register that he requires for the purpose of ascertaining or verifying registrable facts about an individual who has applied for the provision of the service””." The clause starts by talking about a person providing a public service and ends by talking about"““an individual who has applied for the provision of the service””." That individual cannot be a person providing a public service, because the Bill uses ““individual”” in contradistinction to ““person”” throughout. I am left baffled. I did not understand, unless, in the context of that last part of subsection (1) the Minister was saying that it could be convenient to an individual to provide information to the national register for the purposes of allowing someone who needed to check on that information to do it via access to the national register. We are getting into deep waters here and sometimes the mechanism for discussing a Bill is not quite fit for purpose. We have reached an impasse. I have asked a series of complicated questions and the Minister has given some lucid but complicated answers and I am not sure that they match. I suggest—and I see the noble Baroness, Lady Anelay, nodding—that this is one of those clauses where a conversation outside the Chamber may satisfy the Minister or me or both of us. On that basis, at this stage, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendment No. 193 not moved.] Clause 17 agreed to. Clause 18 [Prohibition on requirements to produce identity cards]: