Part VI Miscellaneous and Supplementary
Miscellaneous
I1C2105 General restrictions on disclosure of information.
C31
Information which—
a
has been obtained under or by virtue of the provisions of this Act, Part I of the 1986 Act F12, Part 1 of the 1989 Act or section 184(5) or 185(5) of the Energy Act 2004; and
b
relates to the affairs of any individual or to any particular business,
shall not be disclosed during the lifetime of the individual or so long as the business continues to be carried on, except as provided below.
2
Subsection (1) does not apply to a disclosure made with the consent of the individual or the person for the time being carrying on the business.
3
Subsection (1) does not apply to a disclosure if—
a
it is made for the purpose of facilitating the performance of any functions of the Secretary of State, the Authority, the Council or the Competition Commission under the 1986 Act, the 1989 Act F13, section 184 or 185 of the Energy Act 2004 or this Act;
b
it is required by a notice under section 38(1A) of the 1986 Act or section 28(2A) of the 1989 Act;
c
it is made by a licence holder and is required to be made by a condition of his licence; or
d
it is made by one licence holder to another and is required by that other licence holder for purposes connected with the carrying on of relevant activities.
C14
Subsection (1) does not apply to any disclosure of information made—
a
for the purpose of facilitating the performance by a person or body mentioned in subsection (5) of any function under an Act or instrument specified in subsection (6);
b
for the purpose of facilitating the performance by the Comptroller and Auditor General, F17...the Health and Safety Executive of any of his or its functions;
c
d
for the purpose of facilitating the performance of the functions of an inspector appointed under the enactments relating to companies;
F2da
for the purpose of facilitating the performance by the Secretary of State, the Treasury or the Financial Services Authority of any functions under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;
db
for the purpose of facilitating the discharge of any function by a person appointed under—
i
section 97 of the financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (investigations into a breach of listing rules etc. ),
ii
section 167 of that Act (general investigations), or
iii
section 168 of that Act (investigations in particular cases);
e
for the purpose of facilitating the performance by an official receiver of his functions under the enactments relating to insolvency or by a recognised professional body for the purposes of section 391 of the M1Insolvency Act 1986 of its functions as such a body;
f
in connection with the investigation of any criminal offence or for the purposes of any criminal proceedings;
g
for the purposes of any civil proceedings brought under or by virtue of the 1986 Act, the 1989 Act, this Act or any Act or instrument specified in subsection (6); or
h
in pursuance of a Community obligation.
5
The persons and bodies specified for the purposes of subsection (4)(a) are—
a
a Minister of the Crown;
b
the Competition Commission;
F4c
the Office of Fair Trading;
F8d
the Office of Communications;
F15e
the Water Services Regulation Authority;
f
the Director General of Electricity Supply for Northern Ireland;
g
the Director General of Gas for Northern Ireland;
h
the F11Office of Rail Regulation;
i
the Civil Aviation Authority;
j
the Insolvency Practitioners Tribunal;
k
the Coal Authority; F22...
l
a local weights and measures authority in Great BritainF21, and
m
the National Consumer Council.
F9C46
The Acts and instruments specified for the purposes of subsection (4)(a) and (g) are—
a
the M2Trade Descriptions Act 1968;
b
the M3Fair Trading Act 1973;
c
the M4Consumer Credit Act 1974;
d
the M5Estate Agents Act 1979;
e
the M6Competition Act 1980;
f
the M7National Audit Act 1983;
g
the M8Telecommunications Act 1984;
h
the M9Airports Act 1986;
i
the M10Insolvency Act 1986;
j
the M11Consumer Protection Act 1987;
F18k
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
l
m
the M14Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992;
n
the M15Railways Act 1993;
o
the M16Coal Industry Act 1994;
p
the M17Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1996;
q
the M18Competition Act 1998.
F3r
Part I of the Transport Act 2000.
F5s
the Enterprise Act 2002
F9t
the Communications Act 2003.
F14u
the Railways Act 2005.
F19v
the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008;
w
the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
F23x
the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007.
7
The Secretary of State may by order modify subsection (3), (4), (5) or (6).
8
Nothing in subsection (1) is to be construed either as limiting the matters which may be—
b
made public by the Authority as part of a notice under section 26; or
c
included in, or made public as part of, a report of the AuthorityF25... or the Competition Commission under any provision of this Act, Part I of the 1986 Act or Part I of the 1989 Act;
or as applying to information which has been so published or has been made public as part of such a notice or such a report.
9
A person who discloses any information in contravention of this section is guilty of an offence and liable—
a
on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;
b
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both.
10
In this section—
“licence holder” means the holder of a gas licence or an electricity licence; and
“relevant activities”, in relation to a licence holder, means activities he is authorised by his licence to carry on (including, in the case of a gas transporter, the activities mentioned in section 7(1)(b) and (c) of the 1986 Act).
11
F2011A
Nothing in this section applies to information within section 29(3) of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 (application of disclosure regime in Part 9 of the Enterprise Act 2002 to information obtained by the Council).
12
The power to make an order under subsection (7) is exercisable by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.