Part VII Miscellaneous and Supplemental

Supplemental

C1101 General restrictions on disclosure of information.

1

Subject to the following provisions of this section, no information with respect to any particular business which—

a

has been obtained under or by virtue of the provisions of this Act F1... ; and

b

relates to the private affairs of any individual or to any particular business,

shall during the lifetime of that individual or so long as that business continues to be carried on, be disclosed without the consent of that individual or the person for the time being carrying on that business.

C22

Subsection (1) above does not apply to any disclosure of information which is made—

a

for the purpose of facilitating the performance of any functions assigned F2... to the Secretary of State, F3or OFCOM by or under this Act F4... ;

b

for the purpose of facilitating the performance of any functions of any Minister, any Northern Ireland department, the head of any such department, F38the Competition and Markets AuthorityF5; F6the Water Services Regulation AuthorityF7the Director General of Electricity SupplyF8the Director General of Electricity Supply for Northern IrelandF9or the Director General of Gas for Northern IrelandF41the Office of Rail and RoadF10, OFCOMF11, the Civil Aviation Authority or a local weights and measures authority in Great Britain under any of the enactments F12or subordinate legislation specified in subsection (3) below;

F13bb

for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out by the Comptroller and Auditor General of any of his functions under any enactment;

c

in connection with the investigation of any criminal offence or for the purposes of any criminal proceedings; F43or

d

for the purpose of any civil proceedings brought under or by virtue of this Act or any of the enactments F12or subordinate legislation specified in subsection (3) below; F44...

F44e

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3

The enactments F14and subordinate legislation referred to in subsection (2) above are—

a

the Trade Descriptions Act 1968;

b

the 1973 Act;

c

the Consumer Credit Act 1974;

F15d

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F15e

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

f

the Estate Agents Act 1979; F16

g

the 1980 Act.

F17h

the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

F18i

the Consumer Protection (Northern Ireland) Order 1987.

F19i

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F20j

the Water Act 1989 F21, or the Water Act 2003F42or the Water Act 2014.

F22k

the Electricity Act 1989.

F23l

the Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992.

F24ll

The Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1996;

F25m

the Railways Act 1993

F26n

the Competition Act 1998

F27o

Part I of the Transport Act 2000.

F28p

the Enterprise Act 2002

C3F29q

the Communications Act 2003 F30...

F31r

the Railways Act 2005.

F32s

the Energy (Northern Ireland Order 2003;

t

the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.

F33u

the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008;

v

the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

F39w

Parts 3 and 4 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013

F374

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5

Any person who discloses any information in contravention of this section shall be 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.

F346

Information obtained by F35OFCOM in the exercise of functions which are exercisable concurrently with F40the Competition and Markets Authority under Part I of the Competition Act 1998 is subject to F36Part 9 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (Information) and not to subsections (1) to (5) of this section.