http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2011/22/section/6Housing (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011An Act to amend the law relating to housing.texttext/xmlenStatute Law Database2023-05-18Expert Participation2023-04-01 6After Article 64 of the Private Tenancies Order insert—64A1This Article applies to any relevant information which is held—aby the Department of Finance and Personnel for the purposes of—iits functions under the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 or the Rates (Capital Values, etc.) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006; oriithe administration of housing benefit; orbby the Northern Ireland Housing Executive for the purposes of the administration of housing benefit.2Relevant information to which this Article applies must, if an authorised officer of the appropriate council so requires, be supplied to that council for the purpose of enabling or assisting that council to exercise its functions under any provision of Part 2, 3 or 4.3Any requirement under paragraph (2) must specify—athe description of relevant information which is to be supplied;bthe form in which that information is to be supplied; andcthe date by which that information is to be supplied.4This Article—adoes not limit the circumstances in which information may be supplied apart from this Article; butbhas effect despite any restriction on the purposes for which relevant information may be disclosed or used.5In this Article—“authorised officer”, in relation to a council, means an officer of the council authorised for the purposes of this Article by the council;“housing benefit” means housing benefit provided by virtue of a scheme under section 122 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992;“relevant information” means information as to—the location, age, size or description of a dwelling-house let under a private tenancy;the name and address of the landlord or tenant of such a dwelling-house or of any person acting as an agent of the landlord.64B1An employee of a council commits an offence if he discloses without lawful authority any information—awhich he acquired in the course of his employment;bwhich is, or is derived from, information supplied to the council under Article 64A; andcwhich relates to a particular dwelling-house or person.2It is not an offence under this Article to disclose information which has previously been disclosed to the public with lawful authority.3It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this Article to show that at the time of the alleged offence—ahe believed that he was making the disclosure in question with lawful authority and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise; orbhe believed that the information in question had previously been disclosed to the public with lawful authority and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise.4A person who is guilty of an offence under this Article shall be liable—aon summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;bon conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both.5For the purposes of this Article a disclosure of information is to be regarded as made with lawful authority if, and only if, it is made—ain accordance with his official duty by an employee of the council;bin accordance with any statutory provision or order of a court;cfor the purposes of any criminal proceedings; ordwith the consent of the person to whom the information relates..