Consideration of Bill, not amended in the Public Bill Committee
New Clause 5
Disclosure of information by other authorities
“(1) A public authority specified in subsection (3) may disclose information for the purpose of facilitating the exercise by a Minister of the Crown of the Minister’s functions relating to trade.
(2) Those functions include, among other things, functions relating to—
(c) the design, implementation and operation of such measures or practices.
(3) The specified public authorities are—
(a) the Secretary of State;
(b) the Minister for the Cabinet Office;
(c) a strategic highways company appointed under section 1 of the Infrastructure Act 2015;
(d) a port health authority constituted under section 2 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984.
(4) A person who receives information as a result of this section may only use the information for the purpose of facilitating the exercise by a public authority of the authority’s functions relating to trade (which include, among other things, functions of a kind referred to in subsection (2)).
(5) A person who receives information as a result of this section may further disclose the information, but only with the consent of the public authority that disclosed the information under subsection (1) (which may be general or specific).
(6) This section does not limit the circumstances in which the information may be disclosed under any other enactment or rule of law.
(7) A disclosure under this section does not breach—
(a) any obligation of confidence owed by the person disclosing the information, or
(b) any other restriction on the disclosure of information (however imposed).
(8) But nothing in this section authorises the making of a disclosure which—
(a) contravenes the data protection legislation (save that the powers conferred by this section are to be taken into account in determining whether a disclosure contravenes that legislation), or