Speeches by Bryant.

“I should correct something I said earlier. I was getting my undertakers and contractors mixed up—I think too much vicarly talk had passed. On clause 56, I said that local authorities will have to pay only if they are a contractor, which is wrong. Undertakers will pay for the service, not contractors, but if a local aut…”

“These amendments broadly seek to do the same thing. As has been said, an estimated 4 million km of pipes and cables are buried underground across the UK. A hole is dug every seven seconds to install, fix and maintain the apparatus that is critical to keeping our water running, our gas and electricity flowing and our co…”

“I don’t think so!”

“On behalf of everyone in the nation. Well, Thames Water does not cover the whole nation, although it gets quite a lot of water from Wales, which we are very happy to provide. The hon. Member made a good point, and yes, this is part of holding all those with underground assets to account. That is the practical aspect of…”

“Well, it is certainly a vulnerability. I started the restoration and renewal process when I was Deputy Leader of the House many years ago. Many people told me that one of the problems in Parliament was the danger of fire, which is certainly the case. We have done some work to make sure the risers cannot take fire from …”

“I will respond first to the contribution from my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Several colleagues have referred to the issue of accidental asset strikes, which is a really important part of why we need to do this piece of work. There was a time when a burst drain or burst pipe was significant b…”

“Yes, but security is at the heart of the whole NUAR platform and remains an absolute priority for us. It feels to me that the provision introduced in the Lords would undermine rather than add to the security of the NUAR. As a digital service in practice, the Government intend to work closely with persons who could acce…”

“We do not think it necessary for the provision to be in the Bill at all, which is why we want to take it out. If others want to attempt a different, less ambiguous language, they can do so on Report. I think that everyone accepts that the language is ambiguous when it comes to what is meant and what the Government woul…”

“No, because we think that the desire is inappropriate. Why would the Government want to reveal cyber-security measures to third parties? It seems incorrect to require the Government to provide that information. I am not aware of any other Bill—perhaps the shadow Minister can think of one—that would require the Governme…”

“I will respond to hon. Members’ comments and then we can have a more general debate, although I will not repeat my earlier comments about the clause. First, the previous version of the clause, in the previous version of the Bill, did not include a provision like the one inserted by Lords Members. It is extremely unusua…”

“I beg to move amendment 12, clause 56, page 54, line 1, leave out lines 1 to 3. This amendment removes a subsection which was inserted at Report stage in the Lords. First, we should obviously celebrate the fact that you are in the Chair, Ms Hobhouse. I think this is the first time you have chaired a Bill Committee, so …”

“The clause creates a permissive information gateway. This will enable public authorities to share information relating to an individual with registered digital verification services, when requested by the individual. The gateway enables digital identity checks to be made against public authority data, thereby increasin…”

“I am conscious that we are steaming towards the end of part 2 of the Bill. It is 11.10 am, and we could go on until 11.30 am, but it might be convenient for Members if we were to end a little earlier and then move on to parts 3 and 4 this afternoon. That would be a matter for the Whips, and I do not like to tell a Whip…”

“Clause 20 allows regulations to provide that the processing of information they require does not breach obligations of confidence or other restrictions on processing information. However, regulations cannot compel businesses to breach data protection legislation. This mirrors the approach taken towards pensions dashboa…”

“Clause 51 enables the Secretary of State to issue written notices to accredited conformity assessment bodies and registered digital verification service providers, requesting information that he may reasonably require to exercise his functions under part 2 of the Bill. That could include information on inclusion, fraud…”

“This clause enables the Secretary of State to designate a trust mark to be used only by registered providers of digital verification services. This will help users to identify those digital verification service providers that have been assessed as reliable and trustworthy. The clause gives the Secretary of State the po…”

“Yes. Question put and agreed to. Clause 49 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 50 Trust mark for use by registered persons Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”

“I am sure Members were wondering when we were going to get to a code of practice, and this is the clause that introduces it. Clause 49 requires the Secretary of State to prepare and publish a code of practice for the disclosure of information under the information gateway created in clause 45. The code of practice will…”

“Clauses 46, 47 and 48 relate to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the Welsh Revenue Authority and Revenue Scotland respectively. The clauses provide additional safeguards to any information disclosed through the information gateway by these bodies. They place restrictions on onward sharing and create offences for the …”

“I think that I will have to write to the hon. Gentleman. We have agreed the amendment, so that is slightly rehashing the debate. I am happy to write to him and he will have that before we come back for Thursday’s Committee sitting. Question put and agreed to. Clause 45, as amended, accordingly ordered to stand part of …”