Welfare Reform Bill (HL Bill 75)

(b) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12
months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both.

(4) It is not an offence under this section—

(a) 45to disclose information in the form of a summary or collection of
information so framed as not to enable information relating to any
particular person to be ascertained from it;

(b) to disclose information which has previously been disclosed to the
public with lawful authority.

(5) It is a defence for a person (“D”) charged with an offence under this section to
prove that at the time of the alleged offence—

(a) 5D believed that D was making the disclosure in question with lawful
authority and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise, or

(b) D believed that the information in question had previously been
disclosed to the public with lawful authority and had no reasonable
cause to believe otherwise.

(6) 10A disclosure is made with lawful authority if it is so made for the purposes of
section 123 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.

(7) This section does not affect that section.

(8) Regulations under section 126(11)(g) may include provision for applying the
provisions of this section to—

(a) 15a person who is a qualifying person within the meaning of section 126
by virtue of the regulations, or

(b) a person associated with such a qualifying person by reason of the
person’s office or employment or otherwise.

(9) In relation to an offence under this section committed in England and Wales
20before the commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003
(increase in maximum term that may be imposed on summary conviction of
offence triable either way) the reference in subsection (3)(b) to 12 months must
be taken to be a reference to 6 months.

128 Sections 125 to 127: supplementary

(1) 25In sections 125 and 126—

• “benefit” includes any allowance, payment, credit or loan;

• “income-based jobseeker’s allowance” has the same meaning as in the
  Jobseekers Act 1995;

• “income-related employment and support allowance” means an income-
  30related allowance under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007;

• “local authority” means—

  (a)

  a county or district council in England;

  (b)

  an eligible parish council (within the meaning of Chapter 1 of
  Part 1 of the Localism Act 2011);

  (c)

  35a London borough council;

  (d)

  the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as a
  local authority;

  (e)

  the Council of the Isles of Scilly;

  (f)

  a county or county borough council in Wales;

  (g)

  40a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government
  etc. (Scotland) Act 1994;

• “prescribed” means prescribed in regulations made by the Secretary of
  State.

(2) Any power to make regulations under sections 125 and 126 includes power—

(a) 45to make different provision for different purposes, cases and areas;