Member

Forgive me at this late hour, but I need to go into the detail. I thank the Minister, his officials and the Bill team for engaging with me between Committee and Report, and the Data & Marketing Association for the briefings I have had. Together, we have narrowed down the area of debate. However, as there is still quite substantial disagreement, I must set out what is quite a technical issue, for which I apologise. The sharing of publicly available data sources with the private sector to achieve economic growth and improve productivity and public services has been well established for decades. Data sources such as the open electoral register, the register of companies, the register of judgments, orders and fines, the land registry and the Food Standards Agency register have been successfully shared for decades —long before the digital era and long before the current Government’s priority of increasing the sharing of public sector data with the private sector to achieve benefits for the nation.