18th June 2007
10.Subsection (1) provides legal authority for the Secretary of State and DSDNI to supply social security information to relevant persons for use in connection with switchover help functions. It gives a power to supply such information on request, but not a duty to do so: in other words, the final decision on whether information is supplied in a particular instance will lie with the Secretary of State (or DSDNI, as the case may be). Subsection (2) makes similar provision to allow the Secretary of State to supply war pensions information.
11.In practice, the Secretary of State concerned in subsection (1) is the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and in subsection (2) it is the Secretary of State for Defence. All war pensions are administered by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency (which is part of the Ministry of Defence) for the whole of the UK. “Social security information” and “war pensions information” are defined in section 2.
12.Subsection (3) makes comparable provision in relation to information (“visual impairment information”) held on registers of people who are blind or partially sighted. Such registers are maintained by local authorities with social services functions in England, Wales and Scotland (see section 5(1) for a definition of “local authority”) and by Health and Social Services Boards in Northern Ireland. “Visual impairment information” is defined in section 2.
13.The information may be supplied to “relevant persons” as defined in subsection (4). Any “switchover help scheme” (as defined in section 5) will be under the overall management of the BBC or a company controlled by the BBC or the Crown (or the BBC and the Crown together): the final structure has not yet been determined but the BBC has indicated that it will operate the scheme through a wholly-owned subsidiary company established for the purpose. In practice, much of the administration of the Scheme (e.g. contacting potential applicants, determining entitlements, and delivering equipment and help with installations) will be contracted out to private sector organisations.
14.In principle, “relevant persons” can exchange information between themselves: this is envisaged by subsections (1), (2) and (3) (as indicated by the phrase “for use (by the person to whom it is supplied or by another relevant person)”). For example, a contractor might be made responsible for mailing information to potential applicants. They will need social security, war pensions and visual impairment information in order to identify and contact the people concerned. The Act permits information to be supplied directly to the contractor, or indirectly, via a company that is also a “relevant person”, such as a subsidiary of the BBC or a company owned by the Crown and the BBC.
15.All exchanges of information permitted by the Act are, however, controlled by—
the terms of section 3, which creates offences of disclosure without lawful authority (see below);
the Data Protection Act 1998;
other aspects of the general law, such as any obligation of confidentiality owed to the subject of the information or the body that supplied it; and
the terms of any contract between the companies concerned.
16.“Switchover help functions” are defined in subsection (5) as follows—
the identification of people who may be eligible for switchover help;
making contact with such people with a view to providing help (e.g. writing a letter to them explaining the help available and inviting them to contact the Scheme and ask for help);
establishing whether or not an applicant is eligible for help.