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Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 13:"Page 22, line 16, at end insert—" ““but does not include information falling within paragraph 17(4A) of Schedule 2.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I shall also speak to Amendments Nos. 15 and 22. These minor amendments will ensure that important police information can flow to the IBB but will not be disclosed to registration authorities, such as the General Medical Council, or to supervisory authorities, such as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools, or be used by the IBB to bar a person if the chief officer of the police force which provided the information thinks it would not be in the interests of the prevention or detection of crime to disclose it to the person under consideration. Various kinds of information may fit this category, but the most common is information related to an ongoing investigation which, if it were released to the individual, may jeopardise an ongoing police investigation. Information of this kind is not currently sent to individuals, and it would be unjust to bar an individual on the basis of information that cannot be released to them, so Amendment No. 15 ensures that the IBB cannot bar an individual on the basis of such information. However, we do not wish to prevent entirely the IBB from seeing this information, as it may help it to identify risks and to liaise with the police as investigations continue. For example, if the IBB is aware that an investigation is under way it can work closely with the police and use the information as part of a barring decision as soon as the police are content for it to be released. As Amendment No. 22 prevents the IBB using this information in a barring decision, the board is not under a duty to disclose the information to the individual. This will ensure that confidential police information is not released inappropriately. These are minor amendments to improve the Bill. I beg to move.