The UK Coalition's Protection of Freedoms Bill (you can read the full text and follow the Bill’s passage through Parliament here) which was published earlier this month contains so many changes to rules brought in by New Labour that it's already being dubbed 'The Great Repeal Bill'.

Despite its grandiose title (and some rather highfalutin PR from the Lib Dems) many commentators are characterising it as more of a list of pet hates than a 21st century Magna Carta. It says very little about the Coalition’s view of the relationship between citizens and the state for example, but it does outlaw rogue wheel clamping...

Of course the Bill is intended to fulfil Conservative and Lib Dem election pledges to scrap laws introduced by Labour which they believed were damaging civil liberties, so we shouldn’t be too churlish. There are in any case some interesting aspects worthy of note. 

The National DNA Database

Labour famously brought in rules which allowed the police to keep DNA samples indefinitely, even where a swab had been taken from someone who was arrested but later acquitted, and indeed even where they were never charged. The new proposals would mean the vast majority of the estimated one million people on the database who’ve been arrested but not convicted would be removed. Samples from those arrested or charged for a minor offence would be destroyed if they’re not convicted.

For serious offences, samples from those charged but not convicted would be held for three years, with a possible two-year extension available with court approval. The police would still have the right to retain the DNA of people deemed to be a national security risk, whether or not they’ve been convicted of an offence.

Detention without Charge

Section 57 of the Bill reduces the maximum period for pre-charge detention for terrorist offences from 28 days to 14. Under New Labour the period went up from 7 days (under the Terrorism Act 2000), to 14 days in 2003 and 28 days in 2006 (the Terrorism Act 2006 was the high water mark although you may remember that the 2005 Bill, which preceded the 2006 Act, originally proposed 90 days.)  

The government seems to be hedging its bets on this issue, however, with the Detention of Terrorist Suspects Bill (also currently making its way through Parliament and available here) proposing that emergency legislation extending the period of pre-charge detention back to 28 days be drafted and reviewed, and then essentially held in waiting, to be enacted in the future “in order to deal with urgent situations”.

Stop and Search

The Bill also provides for the repeal of sections 44 to 47 of the Terrorism Act 2000. These allowed the police to stop and search individuals in designated areas without having to show reasonable suspicion. The government has had little choice but to repeal these powers following a European Court ruling last year which held that they were a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. (You can read the case report here.) 

Home Secretary Theresa May has already allowed 28-day detention to lapse by not putting an annual renewal vote to Parliament. The system has therefore reverted to 14 days detention without charge for terror suspects. The Bill will simply make that change permanent.

Vetting and Barring Scheme

The vetting and barring scheme was set up in 2009 after Ian Huntley’s conviction for the the murder of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Its purpose is to monitor those applying to work with children or vulnerable adults but it has been criticised for being too bureaucratic and restrictive.

The Bill proposes to reduce the types of work which are closed to barred individuals and to merge the Criminal Records Bureau and Independent Safeguarding Authority in order to streamline the checking service for about 4.5 million people who work "closely and regularly" with those at risk.

The vetting of teachers will continue but those who do occasional, supervised volunteer work will not need checks. Job applicants will also be able to see the results of their criminal record check before their prospective employer so mistakes can be corrected.

CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)

Currently, CCTV and ANPR cameras are not regulated except by operation of the Data Protection Act, which only applies to personal data, and other regulation on the covert use of CCTV by local authorities.

The Bill provides for a code of conduct on CCTV and other surveillance cameras. A new Surveillance Camera Commissioner would also be appointed to monitor the operation of the code and report annually to Parliament.

Freedom of Information

Section 92 of the Bill would amend the Freedom of Information Act so that if data is held either in an electronic dataset or the applicant expresses a preference for data in an electronic form, public authorities must provide it electronically and in a form which is capable of re-use.

This may sound innocuous but information which is in electronically reusable form is far easier to manipulate, whether through combinations of different datasets, graphical representations of data or by applying calculations through spreadsheet software. The move has been welcomed by open government campaigners and the media.

Of course in many cases public authorities already provide data electronically in response to freedom of information requests. The important difference is that even electronic information is often not reusable, either because it's in pdf format or it’s contained in an embedded image. The Bill would make disclosure in spreadsheet-readable form such as excel, obligatory on request.

Section 92(4) of the Bill would also amend the rules governing publication schemes, requiring public authorities to include datasets (and updates) in re-useable form. This could mean the government providing regularly updated feeds of data.

The Bill is expected to become law towards the end of 2011 or early 2012 but the Coalition agreement promised to introduce a new 'public reading stage' for legislation to give the public a chance to comment online. This Bill is piloting the new system so if you want to comment on it you can do so via a specially created website (accessible here). The government will collect responses and present them to a cross-party committee of MPs during the Bill's passage through the House of Commons.