Part VII Miscellaneous and Supplemental

Supplemental

101 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.

(2)

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, F5the Competition and Markets Authority F6; F7the Water Services Regulation Authority F8the Director General of Electricity Supply F9the Director General of Electricity Supply for Northern Ireland F10or the Director General of Gas for Northern Ireland F11the Office of Rail and Road F12, OFCOM F13, the Civil Aviation Authority or a local weights and measures authority in Great Britain under any of the enactments F14or subordinate legislation specified in subsection (3) below;

F15(bb)

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; F16or

(d)

for the purpose of any civil proceedings brought under or by virtue of this Act or any of the enactments F14or subordinate legislation specified in subsection (3) below; F17...

F17(e)

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

(3)

The enactments F18and 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;

F19(d)

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

F19(e)

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

(f)

the Estate Agents Act 1979; F20

(g)

the 1980 Act.

F21(h)

the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

F22(i)

the Consumer Protection (Northern Ireland) Order 1987.

F23(i)

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

F24(j)

the Water Act 1989 F25, or the Water Act 2003 F26or the Water Act 2014.

F27(k)

the Electricity Act 1989.

F28(l)

the Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992.

F29(ll)

The Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1996;

F30(m)

the Railways Act 1993

F31(n)

the Competition Act 1998

F32(o)

Part I of the Transport Act 2000.

F33(p)

the Enterprise Act 2002

F34(q)

the Communications Act 2003 F35...

F36(r)

the Railways Act 2005.

F37(s)

the Energy (Northern Ireland Order 2003;

(t)

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

F38(u)

the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008;

(v)

the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

F39(w)

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

F40(4)

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

(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.

F41(6)

Information obtained by F42OFCOM in the exercise of functions which are exercisable concurrently with F43the Competition and Markets Authority under Part I of the Competition Act 1998 is subject to F44Part 9 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (Information) and not to subsections (1) to (5) of this section.