Part V Miscellaneous, General and Supplemental Provisions
Information
C2113 Disclosure of information.
1
Notwithstanding any prohibition or restriction imposed by or under any enactment or rule of law, information of any description may be disclosed—
a
b
c
d
by the Natural Resources Body for Wales to the Forestry Commissioners F14or the Scottish Ministers,
for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out by F9any of the relevant agencies of any of its functions, by any such Minister of any of his environmental functions or by any local enforcing authority of any of its relevant functions; and no person shall be subject to any civil or criminal liability in consequence of any disclosure made by virtue of this subsection.
F161A
Nothing in this section authorises the disclosure by SEPA to any person of protected taxpayer information which was obtained by SEPA in connection with a function of Revenue Scotland delegated to it by Revenue Scotland under section 4(1)(b) of the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014 (asp 16).
C12
Nothing in this section shall authorise the disclosure to a local enforcing authority by a F10relevant agency or another local enforcing authority of information—
a
disclosure of which would, in the opinion of a Minister of the Crown, be contrary to the interests of national security; or
C13
No information disclosed to any person under or by virtue of this section shall be disclosed by that person to any other person otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this section, or any provision of any other enactment which authorises or requires the disclosure, if that information is information—
a
which relates to a trade secret of any person or which otherwise is or might be commercially confidential in relation to any person; or
b
whose disclosure otherwise than under or by virtue of this section would, in the opinion of a Minister of the Crown, be contrary to the interests of national security.
4
Any authorisation by or under this section of the disclosure of information by or to any person shall also be taken to authorise the disclosure of that information by or, as the case may be, to any officer of his who is authorised by him to make the disclosure or, as the case may be, to receive the information.
5
In this section—
F7...
F8“enactment” includes an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament.
F1“the environment” means all, or any, of the following media, namely, the air, water and land (and the medium of air includes the air within buildings and the air within other natural or man-made structures above or below ground);
“environmental functions”, in relation to a Minister of the Crown, means any function of that Minister, whether conferred or imposed under or by virtue of any enactment or otherwise, relating to the environment; and
“local enforcing authority” means—
- a
any local authority within the meaning of Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and the “relevant functions” of such an authority are its functions under or by virtue of that Part;
- aa
in relation to England and Wales, any local authority within the meaning of regulations under section 2 of the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999 F5or regulations under section 61 of the Water Act 2014 ;
- b
any local authority within the meaning of Part IV of this Act, and the “relevant functions” of such an authority are its functions under or by virtue of that Part; F2or
- c
in relation to England, any county council for an area for which there are district councils, and the “relevant functions” of such a county council are its functions under or by virtue of Part IV of this Act;
F11or - d
in relation to England and Wales, any local enforcing authority within the meaning of section 1(7) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and the “relevant functions” of such an authority are its functions under or by virtue of Part I of that Act.
- a
F4“protected taxpayer information” has the meaning given by section 14 of the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014 (asp 16),
F12“relevant agency” means the Agency, the Natural Resources Body for Wales or SEPA.