18U.K.After section 15 there shall be inserted—
“15A Information obtained by national minimum wage officers.
(1)This section applies to information which has been obtained by an officer acting for the purposes of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.
(2)This section does not apply to any information to the extent that the information relates to—
(a)any failure to allow holidays directed to be allowed by an order under section 3 of this Act; or
(b)any terms and conditions of employment fixed by such an order by virtue of subsection (1)(c) of that section.
(3)Information to which this section applies may, with the authority of the relevant Minister, be supplied to the Secretary of State for use for any purpose relating to this Act.
(4)Information supplied under subsection (3) of this section shall not be supplied by the recipient to any other person or body unless—
(a)it could be supplied to that person or body under that subsection; or
(b)it is supplied for the purposes of any civil or criminal proceedings relating to this Act;
and shall not be supplied in those circumstances without the authority of the relevant Minister.
(5)This section does not limit the circumstances in which information may be supplied or used apart from this section.
(6)In this section “the relevant Minister” means the Minister of the Crown with the function of appointing officers under section 13(1)(a) of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.”