Part 2Functions of the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council
Widening access to fundable further and higher education
24Widening access to fundable further and higher education: sharing of information
(1)
The 2005 Act is modified as follows.
(2)
“25BWidening access to fundable further and higher education: sharing of information
(1)
The Scottish Ministers may by regulations make provision requiring the sharing of specified information about individuals between information holders and other relevant bodies in order to achieve the outcome set out in subsection (2) for the purpose set out in subsection (3).
(2)
The outcome is that the specified information is available to a fundable post-16 education body to whom the Council makes payments under section 12.
(3)
The purpose is enabling, encouraging or increasing participation in fundable further education or fundable higher education by persons belonging to any socio-economic group which the Scottish Ministers reasonably consider to be under-represented in such education.
(4)
Regulations under subsection (1) may in particular—
(a)
require information holders to provide the specified information to a relevant body,
(b)
require a relevant body to provide the specified information to another relevant body,
(c)
make provision about the circumstances in which an information holder or a relevant body is not required to provide the specified information.
(5)
Where the specified information is that a school lunch is or has been provided for a pupil free of charge by virtue of section 53 of the 1980 Act, regulations under subsection (1) may disapply section 53B of that Act in relation to the sharing of that information.
(6)
For the purposes of subsection (3) a socio-economic group is to be treated as under-represented in fundable further education or fundable higher education if participation in such education by persons in that group is disproportionately low.
(7)
The Scottish Ministers may take into account any social or economic characteristics which they consider appropriate when determining which groups are to constitute “socio-economic groups” for the purposes of this section.
(8)
Regulations under subsection (1) may modify any enactment (including this Act).
(9)
Before laying before the Scottish Parliament a draft of a statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (1), the Scottish Ministers must consult—
(a)
the Council,
(b)
post-16 education bodies appearing to the Scottish Ministers as likely to be affected by the regulations,
(c)
any other person appearing to the Scottish Ministers as likely to be affected by the regulations.
(10)
In this section—
“information holder” means a person or a category of person specified as such in the regulations,
“relevant body” means a person or a category of person specified as such in the regulations, which may in particular include a post-16 education body which provides fundable further education or fundable higher education,
“specified information” means information or a category of information specified in the regulations.”.