Offences7
1
A relevant person5 must not disclose without lawful authority any information supplied to that person or another relevant person under these Regulations.
2
A person—
a
who is or has been employed by a relevant person,
b
who is or has been engaged—
i
in the provision of services to a relevant person in connection with the carrying out of an energy rebate scheme function, or
ii
to carry out any energy rebate scheme function, or to carry out any function in connection with the carrying out of an energy rebate scheme function, or
c
who is or has been employed by, or who is or has been engaged in the provision of services to, or to carry out a function for, a person mentioned in sub-paragraph (b),
must not disclose without lawful authority information supplied to a relevant person under regulation 5 or 6.
3
A person who contravenes paragraph (1) or (2) commits an offence.
4
It is not an offence under this regulation—
a
to disclose information in the form of a summary or collection of information so framed as not to enable information supplied under these Regulations relating to any particular person to be ascertained from it; or
b
to disclose information which has previously been disclosed to the public with lawful authority.
5
It is a defence for a person (“A”) charged with an offence under this regulation to prove that at the time of the alleged offence A had reasonable cause to believe—
a
that A was making the disclosure in question with lawful authority, or
b
that the information in question has previously been disclosed to the public with lawful authority.
6
For the purposes of this regulation, a disclosure is to be regarded as made with lawful authority only if it is made—
a
for the purpose of carrying out an energy rebate scheme function, or for doing anything connected with the carrying out of such a function;
b
for the purpose of managing the account of a domestic customer to whom an automatic award has been made under the energy rebate scheme;
c
for the prevention or detection of crime;
d
in accordance with any enactment or court order;
e
for the purpose of instituting, or otherwise for the purposes of, proceedings before a court;
f
for a purpose connected with the exercise of functions of the Director of Public Prosecutions or, in Scotland, the Lord Advocate or procurator fiscal;
g
with the consent of the person to whom the information relates or of any person authorised to act on that person’s behalf.
7
A person guilty of an offence under this regulation is liable—
a
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine, or both;
b
on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both.
8
In the application of this regulation in England and Wales, in relation to an offence committed before the commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 20036, the reference in paragraph (7)(b) to 12 months is to be read as a reference to 6 months.
9
In this regulation, “energy rebate scheme function” means the carrying out of an activity for the purposes referred to in regulation 5(3) or 6(3).
10
The reference in paragraph (6)(d) to an enactment includes a reference to an Act of the Scottish Parliament and an instrument under an Act of the Scottish Parliament.