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Education and Skills Bill

I thank the noble Baroness for her response, the latter part of which was of more note. When one first looks at Clauses 72 and 73 one is quite horrified. Clause 72 states that the personal information within subsection (2), "““is about an individual who has attained the age of 19””," and that it is held by the Secretary of State for whatever purposes he wants. It states that the information can be devolved to almost any authority he so chooses. We, of course, are not party to what information might be supplied. The noble Baroness said that the data can be anonymised, but I wonder what that will cost and how thorough it would be. Clause 73 states: "““The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs may disclose information relating to income tax or tax credits to a person for use in connection with the exercise of an assessment function of the Secretary of State or a devolved authority””." That is not in the true democratic spirit of the way in which we like to run this country. As the noble Baroness knows well, in Wales there are all kinds of authorities—the Assembly, its various sub-groups, its committees, and the local authorities, who will presumably be involved in this at various stages and times. I shall withdraw my objection now and I will study the matter further, but the noble Baroness and her Bill team need to have another look at this issue with a critical eye to give the people of Wales and myself, among others, confidence that personal data cannot be bandied about as government departments think fit. I shall withdraw my amendment today, but I will almost certainly return to this issue.