Provision of information by Board for health purposes
9(1)This paragraph applies to information which is held for the purposes of functions relating to tax credits, child benefit or guardian’s allowance—
(a)by the Board, or
(b)by a person providing services to the Board, in connection with the provision of those services.
(2)Information to which this paragraph applies may be supplied—
(a)to the Secretary of State, the National Assembly for Wales, the Scottish Ministers or the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland, or
(b)to persons providing services to, or exercising functions on behalf of, the Secretary of State, the National Assembly for Wales, the Scottish Ministers or that Department,
for use for the purposes of such functions relating to health as may be prescribed.
(3)Information supplied under this paragraph is not to be supplied by the recipient to any other person or body unless it is supplied—
(a)to a person to whom the information could be supplied directly by or under the authority of the Board, or
(b)for the purpose of civil or criminal proceedings,
and is not to be so supplied in those circumstances without the authority of the Board.
(4)A person commits an offence if he discloses information supplied to him under this paragraph unless the disclosure is made—
(a)in accordance with sub-paragraph (3),
(b)in accordance with an enactment or an order of a court,
(c)with consent given by or on behalf of the person to whom the information relates, or
(d)in such a way as to prevent the identification of the person to whom it relates.
(5)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under sub-paragraph (4) to prove that he reasonably believed that his disclosure was lawful.
(6)A person guilty of an offence under sub-paragraph (4) is liable—
(a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, to a fine or to both, or
(b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both.