377.This section amends Part 3 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 (“the 2008 Act”) to widen the information that can be shared under that Part and the purposes for which it can be used.
378.Section 87 of the 2008 Act as it stands allows the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers and the Welsh Ministers to use and share certain information relating to education and training (and, in the case of the Secretary of State, certain information relating to social security) for use in connection with particular functions of the Secretary of State and devolved authorities relating to education and training that is provided for over-19s, other than higher education. Section 88 of the 2008 Act allows Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to share information relating to income tax or tax credits for use in connection with those same functions.
379.At the moment, the information relating to education and training and social security that can be used and shared under section 87 does not include information about an individual who has not attained the age of 19. The amendments made by subsection (2)(a) of this section will remove the restriction that prevents this.
380.In addition, training- and education-related information about an individual that can be used and disclosed under section 87 does not include information about higher education undertaken by him or her, and information that is used or disclosed under sections 87 and 88 cannot at the moment be used in connection with any of the relevant functions of the Secretary of State and devolved authorities (i.e. those functions mentioned in Section 87(4)) so far as they relate to under-19 education or higher education. The amendments made by subsections (2)(b) to (d) and (3) of this section will remove these restrictions.