|
| |
|
4C | Voluntary provision of data |
| |
(1) | If the Comptroller and Auditor General thinks it appropriate to |
| |
conduct a data matching exercise using data held by or on behalf of |
| |
a body or person not subject to Article 4B, the data may be disclosed |
| |
to the Comptroller and Auditor General or a person acting on his |
| 5 |
| |
(2) | A disclosure under paragraph (1) does not breach— |
| |
(a) | any obligation of confidence owed by a person making the |
| |
| |
(b) | any other restriction on the disclosure of information |
| 10 |
| |
(3) | But nothing in this Article authorises a disclosure which— |
| |
(a) | contravenes the Data Protection Act 1998 (c. 29); or |
| |
(b) | is prohibited by Part 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory |
| |
| 15 |
(4) | Data may not be disclosed under paragraph (1) if the data comprise |
| |
| |
(5) | “Patient data” means data relating to an individual which are held |
| |
for any of the following purposes and from which the individual can |
| |
| 20 |
(a) | preventative medicine, medical diagnosis, medical research, |
| |
the provision of care and treatment and the management of |
| |
health and social care services; |
| |
(b) | informing individuals about their physical or mental health |
| |
or condition, the diagnosis of their condition or their care and |
| 25 |
| |
(6) | This Article does not limit the circumstances in which data may be |
| |
disclosed apart from this Article. |
| |
(7) | Data matching exercises may include data provided by a body or |
| |
person outside Northern Ireland. |
| 30 |
4D | Disclosure of results of data matching etc |
| |
(1) | This Article applies to the following information— |
| |
(a) | information relating to a particular body or person obtained |
| |
by or on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General for |
| |
the purpose of conducting a data matching exercise; |
| 35 |
(b) | the results of any such exercise. |
| |
(2) | Information to which this Article applies may be disclosed by or on |
| |
behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General if the disclosure is— |
| |
(a) | for or in connection with a purpose for which the data |
| |
matching exercise is conducted; |
| 40 |
(b) | to a body mentioned in paragraph (3) (or a related party) for |
| |
or in connection with a function of that body corresponding |
| |
or similar to the audit functions of the Comptroller and |
| |
Auditor General or a local government auditor under any |
| |
statutory provision or the data matching functions of the |
| 45 |
Comptroller and Auditor General under Article 4A; or |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
(c) | in pursuance of a duty imposed by or under a statutory |
| |
| |
| |
(a) | the Audit Commission for Local Authorities and the National |
| |
Health Service in England; |
| 5 |
(b) | the Auditor General for Wales; |
| |
(c) | the Auditor General for Scotland; |
| |
(d) | the Accounts Commission for Scotland; |
| |
| |
(4) | “Related party”, in relation to a body mentioned in paragraph (3), |
| 10 |
| |
(a) | a body or person acting on its behalf; |
| |
(b) | a body whose accounts are required to be audited by it or by |
| |
a person appointed by it; |
| |
(c) | a person appointed by it to audit those accounts. |
| 15 |
(5) | If the data used for a data matching exercise include patient data— |
| |
(a) | paragraph (2)(a) applies only so far as the purpose for which |
| |
the disclosure is made relates to a relevant NHS body; |
| |
(b) | paragraph (2)(b) applies only so far as the function for or in |
| |
connection with which the disclosure is made relates to such |
| 20 |
| |
| |
(a) | “patient data” has the same meaning as in Article 4C; |
| |
(b) | “relevant NHS body” means— |
| |
(i) | an HSS trust within the meaning of the Health and |
| 25 |
Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order |
| |
| |
(ii) | a health service body as defined in section 53(1) of the |
| |
Audit Commission Act 1998 (c. 18); |
| |
(iii) | a Welsh NHS body as defined in section 60 of the |
| 30 |
Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 (c. 23); |
| |
(iv) | an NHS body as defined in section 22(1) of the |
| |
Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp |
| |
| |
(7) | Information disclosed under paragraph (2) may not be further |
| 35 |
| |
(a) | for or in connection with the purpose for which it was |
| |
disclosed under sub-paragraph (a) or the function for which |
| |
it was disclosed under sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph; |
| |
(b) | for the investigation or prosecution of an offence (so far as the |
| 40 |
disclosure does not fall within sub-paragraph (a)); or |
| |
(c) | in pursuance of a duty imposed by or under a statutory |
| |
| |
(8) | Except as authorised by paragraphs (2) and (7), a person who |
| |
discloses information to which this Article applies is guilty of an |
| 45 |
| |
(a) | on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not |
| |
exceeding two years, to a fine or to both; or |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
(b) | on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not |
| |
exceeding 6 months, to a fine not exceeding the statutory |
| |
| |
(9) | Article 27 of the Local Government (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 |
| |
(NI 18) does not apply to information to which this Article applies. |
| 5 |
(10) | In this Article “body” includes office. |
| |
| |
(1) | Nothing in Article 4D prevents the Comptroller and Auditor General |
| |
from publishing a report on a data matching exercise (including on |
| |
the results of the exercise). |
| 10 |
(2) | But the report may not include information relating to a particular |
| |
| |
(a) | the body or person is the subject of any data included in the |
| |
| |
(b) | the body or person can be identified from the information; |
| 15 |
| |
(c) | the information is not otherwise in the public domain. |
| |
(3) | A report published under this Article may be published in such |
| |
manner as the Comptroller and Auditor General considers |
| |
appropriate for bringing it to the attention of those members of the |
| 20 |
public who may be interested. |
| |
(4) | This Article does not affect any powers of the Comptroller and |
| |
Auditor General or a local government auditor where the data |
| |
matching exercise in question forms part of an audit carried out by |
| |
| 25 |
4F | Fees for data matching |
| |
(1) | The Comptroller and Auditor General may charge a fee to any body |
| |
required under Article 4B(1) to provide data for a data matching |
| |
| |
(2) | But a body whose functions are discharged on behalf of the Crown |
| 30 |
may not be charged a fee under paragraph (1) except with the |
| |
consent of the Department. |
| |
(3) | In addition to the power under paragraph (1), the Comptroller and |
| |
Auditor General may charge a fee to any other body or person |
| |
providing data for or receiving the results of a data matching |
| 35 |
exercise, such fee to be payable in accordance with terms agreed |
| |
between the Comptroller and Auditor General and that body or |
| |
| |
(4) | Any fee received by the Comptroller and Auditor General by virtue |
| |
of this Article is to be paid by him into the Consolidated Fund. |
| 40 |
4G | Code of data matching practice |
| |
(1) | The Comptroller and Auditor General must prepare, and keep under |
| |
review, a code of practice with respect to data matching exercises. |
| |
(2) | Regard must be had to the code in conducting and participating in |
| |
| 45 |
|
| |
|
| |
|
(3) | Before preparing or altering the code, the Comptroller and Auditor |
| |
General must consult the bodies mentioned in Article 4B(2), the |
| |
Information Commissioner and such other bodies or persons as he |
| |
| |
(4) | The Comptroller and Auditor General must— |
| 5 |
(a) | send a copy of the code, and of any alterations made to the |
| |
code, to the Department and the Department must lay the |
| |
copy before the Assembly; and |
| |
(b) | from time to time publish the code as for the time being in |
| |
| 10 |
4H | Powers of the Department |
| |
(1) | The Department may by order amend Articles 4A to 4G— |
| |
(a) | to add any purpose mentioned in paragraph (2) to the |
| |
purposes for which data matching exercises may be |
| |
| 15 |
(b) | to modify the application of those Articles in relation to a |
| |
| |
(2) | The purposes which may be added are— |
| |
(a) | to assist in the prevention and detection of crime (other than |
| |
| 20 |
(b) | to assist in the apprehension and prosecution of offenders; |
| |
(c) | to assist in the recovery of debt owing to public bodies. |
| |
(3) | The Department may by order amend Articles 4A to 4G— |
| |
(a) | to add a public body to the list of bodies in Article 4B(2); |
| |
(b) | to modify the application of those Articles in relation to a |
| 25 |
| |
(c) | to remove a body from that list. |
| |
(4) | An order under this Article may include such incidental, |
| |
consequential, supplemental or transitional provision as the |
| |
| 30 |
(5) | An order under this Article is subject to affirmative resolution. |
| |
(6) | In this Article “public body” means a body or person whose |
| |
| |
(a) | are functions of a public nature; or |
| |
(b) | include functions of that nature, |
| 35 |
| but, in the latter case, the body or person is a public body to the |
| |
extent only of those functions.” |
| |
7 | In Article 6 of the Audit (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 (S.I. 1987/460 (N.I.5)) |
| |
(expenses and accounts of Northern Ireland Audit Office), in paragraph (5) |
| |
after “examination” insert “or in respect of data matching”. |
| 40 |
|
| |
|