Amendment made: 45, page 56, line 23, leave out subsection (2) and insert—

“(2) After section 124C (inserted by section 32 of this Act) insert—

124D Secretary of State’s recommendations

(1) Where a code is prepared under section 121, 122, 123, 124 or 124A, the Commissioner must—

(a) submit what the Commissioner considers to be the final version to the Secretary of State, and

(b) publish it.

(2) Before the end of the period of 40 days beginning when the code is submitted to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State must—

(a) decide whether to make recommendations relating to the code (whether about its content or about other matters),

(b) send any recommendations to the Commissioner in writing, and

(c) publish the recommendations.

(3) If the Secretary of State does not make recommendations, the Secretary of State must lay the code before Parliament.

(4) If the Secretary of State makes recommendations, the Commissioner must, before the end of the response period—

(a) consider the recommendations,

(b) decide whether to withdraw the code, and

(c) prepare and publish a document responding to the recommendations.

(5) In subsection (4), “the response period” means—

(a) the period of 40 days beginning when the recommendations are published, or

(b) such longer period as the Secretary of State and the Commissioner may agree.

(6) The document responding to the recommendations must—

(a) state whether the Commissioner accepts each recommendation,

(b) give reasons for accepting, or not accepting, each recommendation,

(c) state the steps that the Commissioner has taken, or proposes to take, in response to each recommendation,

(d) state whether the code is withdrawn, and

(e) where relevant, give reasons for not withdrawing the code.

(7) If the document states that the code is not withdrawn, the Secretary of State must lay the code before Parliament.

(8) The withdrawal of a code does not prevent the code being re-submitted to the Secretary of State under subsection (1), with or without modifications.

(9) This section applies in relation to amendments prepared under section 121, 122, 123, 124 or 124A as it applies in relation to codes prepared under those sections.

(10) In calculating the periods of 40 days mentioned in subsections (2) and (5), no account is to be taken of—

(a) Saturdays and Sundays,

(b) Christmas Day or Good Friday, or

(c) a day which is a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 in any part of the United Kingdom.””—(Sir John Whittingdale.)

This amendment provides that the Information Commissioner must consider recommendations from the Secretary of State about a code of practice before the code is laid before Parliament for approval (and removes provision included in the Bill which requires a code to be approved by the Secretary of State).