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Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

My Lords, I have tabled Amendment No. 28 in this group. This is an issue that we covered in Committee. It concerns publishing the details of representations made to LBRO and the identity of those making the representations. The background to this was that I felt it important that, if you wish to influence public policy by lobbying LBRO, you should at least be prepared to be identified as having done so. The compulsive litigant or compulsive complainant should at least be identified as such. The Minister suggested on 28 January at col. GC 132 that this would fall foul of the Data Protection Act as he understood it. Between Committee stage and tonight, I have taken the trouble to ask, at a fairly unofficial level, a data protection lawyer about this. I am advised—I am sure that the serried tanks of the Bill team and its huge legal battery will have much better advice than I have—that where people put themselves forward and make direct representations, they would not be afforded the protection of the Data Protection Act, but that they would be if their support was implied. That is to say that, if the chamber of commerce had done something, you could mention the chamber of commerce but not the firms that were part of it. If you said that a company had made a representation, you could name the company but not individual directors. I hope that the Minister will take the opportunity to think about this. Transparency is important in these areas. If you wish to influence public policy, you should have the courage of your convictions and be prepared to stand up and say what you are standing for. The dangers of allowing this to be done without disclosure are considerable.