(1) A person having functions by virtue of this Act shall, on being required to do so by the ministers of the Home Office—

(a) provide them or any other person specified in the requirement with such relevant information as is so specified; and

(b) do so in any such form as may be specified.

(2) The Home Office may, under subsection (1) above, require the provision of relevant information only if, in their opinion, it is needed by them (or, as the case may be, the other person specified in the requirement) for research purposes.

(3) Information need not be provided under this section if, were it evidence which might be given in proceedings in any court in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland, the person having that evidence could not be compelled to give it in such proceedings.

(4) Where information required under subsection (1) above—

(a) is, or refers to, information about a natural person and would identify or enable the identification of the person; and

(b) can reasonably be provided under subsection (1) above so as not to identify or enable the identification of the person,

it shall be so provided.

(5) Where—

(a) the person required under subsection (1) to provide the information is under a duty of confidentiality in respect of that information; and

(b) the person cannot provide the information without breaching the duty,

the information shall not be provided unless the person to whom the duty was owed has consented to its provision.

(6) On receipt of information provided under this section, the Home Office (or any other person provided under this section with the information) may, for the purposes referred to in subsection (2) above, do any, or all of the following—

(a) process the information;

(b) collate it;

(c) publish it or reports based on it.

(7) Regulations may provide as to the procedure to be followed in making requirements under this section for information and in providing it.

(8) Where information recorded otherwise than in legible form is required to be provided under this section, it shall be provided in legible form.

(9) For the purposes of this section—

(a) information is ''relevant'' if it is information as to the operation, use and consequences of this Act;

(b) a person is under a duty of confidentiality in respect of information although the person could notwithstanding that duty be compelled to give evidence as to that information in proceedings in a court in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland.

(10) For the purposes of this section, any reference to Northern Ireland is applicable only in those circumstances where the provision as set out in Part 3, clause 139, section (2) of this Act apply.

(11) For the purposes of this section, any reference to Scotland is applicable only in those circumstances where the provisions as set out in Part 3, clause 139, section (3) of this Act apply.'.—[Mrs. Brooke.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 12—Duty to monitor operation of Act and promote best practice—

'The Home Office shall—

(a) monitor the operation of this Act; and

(b) promote best practice in relation to the operation of this Act.'.

New clause 13—Codes of practice—

'(1) The Lord Chancellor must prepare a code or codes of practice—

(a) for the guidance of persons assessing whether a person has capacity or not in relation to any of the offences set out in this Act,

(b) for the guidance of persons diagnosing or obtaining diagnoses of persons for a learning disability or mental disorder in relation to any of the offences set out in this Act,

(c) for the guidance of persons coming into contact with persons with a mental disorder or learning disability due to their pursuing legal proceedings under this Act,

(d) setting out standards of training and education required by persons to work with adults with a learning disability or mental disorder in relation to offences of this Act,

(e) that provides guidance for persons involved in the provision of services to adults in connection with their having a learning disability or mental disorder on how this provision is affected by the offences set out in this Act,

(e) with regard to the recording of information relative to this Act,

(f) with respect to such other matters concerned with this Part as he thinks fit.

(2) The Lord Chancellor may from time to time revise any such code.

(3) Before preparing or revising a code of practice the Lord Chancellor must consult such persons as he thinks appropriate.

(4) The Lord Chancellor may delegate the preparation of the whole or any part of a code of practice so far as he considers expedient.

(5) The Lord Chancellor must publish any code of practice he has prepared or revised and lay copies of it before Parliament.

(6) It is the duty of a person to have regard to any relevant code of practice if he is—

(a) involved in the provision of any of the services covered by any of the offences outlined in the Act,

(b) acting in any of the roles covered by the offences set out in the Act,

(c) an employee or representative, whether paid or not and whether under contract or not, of the Crown Prosecution Service or the Police,

(d) acting in relation to any person with a learning disability or mental disorder,

(e) acting in relation to any person without the capacity to consent,

(f) acting with regard to the recording of information relative to this Act,

(g) acting in relation to any other matters of concern to this Act.

(7) A code of practice—

(a) is admissible in evidence in any civil or criminal proceedings, and

(b) may be taken into account by the court in any case in which it appears to the court to be relevant.'.

There is a considerable amount of detail in these three new clauses, which I feel that hon. Members will not want to read or listen to at this time in the evening. I will therefore look at the reasons for

tabling the new clauses and explain what I would like them to achieve. I hope that the Minister is full of good will as we reach the end of the Bill. The three new clauses cover research, monitoring and the code of practice and apply to some of our most vulnerable adults. Again, I anticipate that the Minister's response will be to ask why they should be on the face of the Bill. I will address that in my remarks.

First, on research, there is widespread agreement that if we really want to have effective protection of our vulnerable adults we need a proper understanding of the causes and effects of abuse. There is widespread agreement that like so many other problems, there have never been enough resources to undertake adequate research in this area. I tabled an early day motion on research to protect vulnerable people from sexual abuse. It now has 64 signatures. Without doubt there is a great deal of support for this.

I understand, although I stand to be corrected, that the Government have agreed that some monitoring of the impact of the implementation of the Bill is needed. However, I am not sure about the extent of the commitment. New clause 11 is based on a section in the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 requiring that information be made available for research. It requires the provision of resources for research and ensures that procedures are in place to facilitate it. I am speaking on behalf of a particular interest group and I should be grateful if the Minister could comment on this so that it can be recorded in Hansard. That would obviously be helpful.

New clause 12 concerns monitoring. It is fairly short and it is also based on a clause under the Scottish mental health Act. We are suggesting that there is a precedent for such points to be incorporated into the Bill.

It will be so important for the Crown Prosecution Service and the police to be fully informed about the appropriate handling of cases involving vulnerable adults. Training and education about capacity and diagnoses will be needed. New clause 13 is based on a code of practice clause, a measure under the draft Mental Incapacity Bill that was introduced at the end of June. Interest groups that work with people with disabilities are most concerned about such important issues. I tabled the new clauses in all sincerity in the hope that the Solicitor-General could give legislative comfort to those interest groups.

The importance of research is absolutely clear. We must research what is going on, which is changing as a result of new means of communication and information technology as well as new ways in which criminals go about their business. We must also research whether our responses are effective and thoroughly examine such issues. I am suggesting not that we put such provisions on a statutory basis, but that the Home Office, in particular, and the wider ministerial group—such matters go beyond the Home Office to the Department for Constitutional Affairs, to education and to health—embrace the intention that lies behind new clause 11 and consider what part ongoing research can play in helping us to tackle the problems that the Bill is aimed at redressing.

That is the general point of principle to bear in mind, but it would not be right to require people to give information to the Home Office. When I first read the new clause and remembered my days at the National Council for Civil Liberties, the idea that anyone could be under a statutory obligation to give information when required to do so by the Home Office would send shivers down people's spine. The new clause is wrong, but its intention will be embraced by the ministerial group. We undertake to ensure that everyone understands what role research will play in implementation and monitoring.

As for new clause 12, the hon. Lady may rest assured that monitoring will be carried out by the Home Affairs Committee and the ministerial group. Questions will be asked. The Scottish mental health Act is not entirely analogous because it is about the provision of services. It is not the same as the provisions under discussion, so I am not sure that it can be lifted over into the Bill. However, I hope that the hon. Lady will accept our assurances that the Act will be monitored.

As an aside, does the Solicitor-General agree that it is rather interesting that the Government are not applying a requirement to monitor under the Bill? However, there is generally a provision in local government Bills to require local government to do exactly that.

Order. That is a fascinating observation, but it has nothing whatever to do with the Minister.

But the hon. Member for Mole Valley has given us the opportunity to give undertakings that will be in Hansard, albeit not in the Bill. That is slightly different. We are talking about what the Government are committing themselves to doing in response to the new clauses.

New clause 13 would require the Lord Chancellor to prepare codes of practice and guidance. Again, I support the Home Office—we all support the principles behind such matters. Training—both initial and ongoing—will be essential. Guidance is important; there should be consultation on the guidance and it should be published, so that people's responsibilities across the different agencies are made clear, and it is also clear whether those responsibilities are being fulfilled.

However, I think that the new clause—unlike a Liberal new clause—is rather centrist. It seems unlikely that the Lord Chancellor will issue codes of conduct and draw up guidance for everyone. That is probably not the way to proceed, but the ministerial committee will embrace that matter.

The implementation programme, which will be led by the Under-Secretary, is enormous. Although I am on the margins of this enterprise, I have heard the discussions about the implementation. It is a huge programme, and training, codes of conduct and guidance are very much part of it. However, I ask the Committee to reject the proposed new clauses.

I am happy to withdraw the new clause. The great advantage of being in my position as an MP is that I know that my amendments will never be accepted, so I do not have to dwell too much on the finer points. Even the good ones are only taken back for consideration. I accept that the new clause is not in the style in which it might have been if I had had enough time to draft it myself. However, I think that the organisation that asked to have those points discussed today had important points to make in what we all accept has been a particularly difficult area of a difficult Bill. I thank the Solicitor-General for her helpful comments, and beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.

Motion and clause, by leave, withdrawn.