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Identity Cards Bill

moved Amendment No. 35: Page 4, line 31, leave out paragraphs (a) and (b) and insert ““documents which any of the persons mentioned in subsection (2A) is authorised or required to issue, whether by or under an enactment or otherwise. (2A)   Those persons are— (a)   a Minister of the Crown; (b)   a government department; (c)   a Northern Ireland department; (d)   the National Assembly for Wales; (e)   any other person who carries out functions conferred by or under any enactment that fall to be carried out on behalf of the Crown.”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, this is a relatively straightforward amendment to respond to a concern raised in the report by the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. The amendment revises Clause 4 so as to respond to the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee’s report, which drew attention to the fact that the current drafting of the clause would, in theory, mean that any document issued under an enactment—whoever issued it—would in theory be covered and could, again in theory as there is no intention whatever of doing so, be designated as an ID card under Clause 4. The Committee pointed out at paragraph 13 of its report that this would include:"““Documents as varied as home information packs or solicitors’ practising certificates: any document issued under statutory powers.””" That is clearly not the Government’s intention. As has been stated many times previously, our policy is that the only documents that should be capable of being designated are ones issued in accordance with a statutory requirement by a government department or public authority on behalf of the Crown and not documents that are simply issued under statutory powers. We accept the committee’s view that the Bill as drafted could technically be construed as wider than the Government’s stated intentions and should therefore be amended. The revised form of words in the amendment uses the same formulation as in Clause 11(5), although of course for a quite different purpose. It provides a means of ensuring that the only documents that could be designated would be those issued by a Minister of the Crown, a government department or a devolved Administration. I hope that the wording, revised as I have just indicated, fully meets the legitimate concern raised by the committee. I again express the Government’s thanks to the committee for the advice that it has provided in the report. I beg to move.