Lords ask government to think again on changes to Data (Use and Access) Bill

The aim of the Data (Use and Access) Bill is to harness the power of data for economic growth, support a modern digital government, and improve people’s lives.

Consideration of amendments

The bill was considered by the House of Lords between 23 October 2024 and 5 February 2025 before passing to the House of Commons.

On Monday 12 May, members of the Lords considered changes (PDF) made to the bill by MPs in the Commons in a process known as parliamentary 'ping pong'.

Lords votes

There were four divisions (votes) on proposed changes to the bill.

These votes were on alternative amendments to previous changes to the bill. Topics included:

• How "sex data" is defined when collected by public authorities (two divisions)
• Definition of "scientific research" and processing personal data for that purpose 
• Transparency of business data used in relation to AI models.

Members voted to make the four amendments to the bill and send it back to the Commons to consider again.

Catch up

Watch or read the debate

• Watch live on Parliament TV.
• Read the Lords Hansard transcript.

Explore further information

Find out more about the bill in the House of Lords Library briefing.

Next steps

The bill will now return to the House of Commons for further consideration of Lords amendments.

What's happened so far?

Third reading

Third reading, a chance for members to 'tidy up' the text of the bill, took place on Wednesday 5 February.

Report stage

Report stage, a further chance to closely scrutinise elements of the bill and make changes, took place on Tuesday 21 and Tuesday 28 January.

Committee stage

Committee stage, line-by-line examination of the bill, concluded on Wednesday 18 December.

Second reading

Second reading, the main debate on the key principles and main purpose of the draft law, took place on Tuesday 19 November.

Image: Pixabay (Gerd Altmann)