|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
[AS AMENDED IN GRAND COMMITTEE] |
|
|
|
|
Make
provision about the disclosure of certain information for purposes
|
|
|
connected with digital switchover. |
|
|
Be
it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty,
by and with the advice and |
|
|
consent of the Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, in this present |
|
|
Parliament assembled,
and by the authority of the same, as follows:— |
|
|
1 |
Disclosure
of information |
|
|
(1) |
The Secretary of State
and the Northern Ireland department may, at the request |
|
|
of a relevant person, supply
a relevant person with social security information |
|
|
for use (by the person
to whom it is supplied or by another relevant person) in |
|
|
connection with switchover
help functions. |
|
5 |
(2) |
The Secretary of State
may, at the request of a relevant person, supply a |
|
|
relevant person with war
pensions information for use (by the person to whom |
|
|
it is supplied or by another
relevant person) in connection with switchover |
|
|
|
|
(3) |
A local authority or,
in Northern Ireland, a Health and Social Services Board |
|
10 |
may, at the request of
a relevant person, supply a relevant person with visual |
|
|
impairment information
for use (by the person to whom it is supplied or by |
|
|
another relevant person)
in connection with switchover help functions. |
|
|
(4) |
In this Act “relevant
person” means— |
|
|
|
15 |
(b) |
any company in respect of
which any one or more of the following— |
|
|
|
|
(ii) |
the Secretary of State,
or |
|
|
(iii) |
a nominee of the BBC
or the Secretary of State, |
|
|
|
hold at least 51% of the
issued ordinary share capital or possess at least |
|
20 |
51% of the voting rights; |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(c) |
any
person who is engaged by the BBC, the Secretary of State or
any |
|
|
company falling within paragraph
(b) to provide any service connected |
|
|
with switchover help functions,
to carry out a switchover help function |
|
|
or to carry out any function
connected with switchover help functions. |
|
|
(5) |
In this Act “switchover
help functions” means— |
|
5 |
(a) |
the identification of persons
who may be eligible for help under a |
|
|
|
|
(b) |
making contact with such
persons with a view to the provision of such |
|
|
|
|
(c) |
the establishment of any
person’s entitlement to such help. |
|
10 |
2 |
Kinds
of information referred to in section 1 |
|
|
(1) |
This section applies for
the purposes of section 1. |
|
|
(2) |
“Social security
information” means— |
|
|
(a) |
in relation to the Secretary
of State, information of a prescribed |
|
|
description held by him
(or on his behalf) and obtained as a result of, or |
|
15 |
for the purpose of, the
exercise of functions of his in relation to social |
|
|
|
|
(b) |
in relation to the Northern
Ireland department, information of a |
|
|
prescribed description held
by the department (or on its behalf) and |
|
|
obtained as a result of,
or for the purpose of, the exercise of the |
|
20 |
functions of the department
in relation to social security. |
|
|
(3) |
“War pensions information”
means information of a prescribed description |
|
|
held by the Secretary of
State (or on his behalf) and obtained as a result of, or |
|
|
for the purpose of, the
exercise of functions of his relating to war pensions, as |
|
|
defined by section 25(4)
of the Social Security Act 1989
(c. 24). |
|
25 |
(4) |
“Visual impairment
information” means information of a prescribed |
|
|
description about persons
who— |
|
|
(a) |
are registered as blind
or partially sighted in a register maintained by |
|
|
or on behalf of a local
authority in England or Wales under section 29 |
|
|
of the National
Assistance Act 1948 (c. 29) (welfare services), |
|
30 |
(b) |
have been certified as
blind or partially sighted in Scotland and in |
|
|
consequence are registered
as blind or partially sighted in a register |
|
|
maintained by or on behalf
of a local authority in Scotland, or |
|
|
(c) |
have been certified as
blind in Northern Ireland and in consequence are |
|
|
registered as blind in a
register maintained by or on behalf of a Health |
|
35 |
and Social Services Board
in Northern Ireland. |
|
|
(5) |
In this section “prescribed”
means prescribed by order made by the Secretary |
|
|
of State by statutory instrument. |
|
|
(6) |
A statutory instrument
containing an order under this section is subject to |
|
|
annulment in pursuance
of a resolution of either House of Parliament. |
|
40 |
(7) |
An order under this section
may make different provision in relation to |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1) |
A relevant person must
not disclose without lawful authority any information |
|
|
supplied to him or another
relevant person under section 1. |
|
45 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
(a) |
who is or who has been employed
by a relevant person, |
|
|
(b) |
who is or who has been engaged— |
|
|
(i) |
in the provision of
services to a relevant person in connection |
|
|
with the carrying out
of a switchover help function, or |
|
5 |
(ii) |
to carry out any switchover
help function, or to carry out any |
|
|
function in connection
with the carrying out of a switchover |
|
|
|
|
(c) |
who is or who has been
employed by, or who is or who has been |
|
|
engaged in the provision
of services to, or to carry out a function for, a |
|
10 |
person mentioned in paragraph
(b), |
|
|
|
must
not disclose without lawful authority information supplied to
a relevant |
|
|
|
|
(3) |
A person who contravenes
subsection (1) or (2) commits an offence. |
|
|
(4) |
It is not an offence under
this section— |
|
15 |
(a) |
to disclose information
in the form of a summary or collection of |
|
|
information so framed as
not to enable information supplied under |
|
|
section 1
relating to any particular person to be ascertained from it;
or |
|
|
(b) |
to disclose information
which has previously been disclosed to the |
|
|
public with lawful authority. |
|
20 |
(5) |
It is a defence for a
person charged with an offence under this section to prove |
|
|
that at the time of the
alleged offence he believed— |
|
|
(a) |
that he was making the disclosure
in question with lawful authority, or |
|
|
(b) |
that the information in
question had previously been disclosed to the |
|
|
public with lawful authority, |
|
25 |
|
and
that he had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise. |
|
|
(6) |
For the purposes of this
section, a disclosure is to be regarded as made with |
|
|
lawful authority if, but
only if, it is made— |
|
|
(a) |
for the purpose of carrying
out a switchover help function, or for doing |
|
|
anything connected with
the carrying out of a switchover help |
|
30 |
|
|
(b) |
in accordance with any enactment
or court order; |
|
|
(c) |
for the purpose of instituting,
or otherwise for the purposes of, |
|
|
proceedings before a court;
or |
|
|
(d) |
with the consent of the
person to whom the information relates or of |
|
35 |
any person authorised to
act on that person’s behalf. |
|
|
(7) |
A person guilty of an offence
under this section is liable— |
|
|
(a) |
on conviction on indictment,
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding |
|
|
two years, or to a fine,
or both; or |
|
|
(b) |
on summary conviction to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 |
|
40 |
months or to a fine not
exceeding the statutory maximum, or both. |
|
|
(8) |
In the application of this
section— |
|
|
(a) |
in England and Wales, in
relation to an offence committed before the |
|
|
commencement of section
154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act
2003 (c. 44), |
|
|
(b) |
in Scotland, until the
commencement of section 45(1) of the Criminal |
|
45 |
Proceedings etc. (Reform)
(Scotland) Act 2007 (asp 6), or |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
the
reference in subsection (7)(b) to 12 months is to be read as
a reference to 6 |
|
|
|
|
4 |
Liability
of directors etc |
|
|
(1) |
If an offence under section
3
committed by a body corporate is shown— |
|
|
(a) |
to have been committed with
the consent or connivance of an officer, or |
|
5 |
(b) |
to be attributable to any
neglect on his part, |
|
|
|
the
officer as well as the body corporate is guilty of the offence
and liable to be |
|
|
proceeded against and punished
accordingly. |
|
|
(2) |
If the affairs of a body
corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) |
|
|
applies in relation to
the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his |
|
10 |
functions of management
as if he were a director of the body. |
|
|
(3) |
“Officer”,
in relation to a body corporate, means a director, member of
the |
|
|
committee of management,
chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar |
|
|
officer of the body, or
a person purporting to act in any such capacity. |
|
|
|
15 |
|
|
“the BBC”
means the British Broadcasting Corporation; |
|
|
|
|
(a) |
in relation to England— |
|
|
|
20 |
(ii) |
a district council,
other than a council for a district in a |
|
|
county for which there
is a county council, |
|
|
(iii) |
a London borough council, |
|
|
(iv) |
the Common Council
of the City of London, in its |
|
|
capacity as a local
authority, or |
|
25 |
(v) |
the Council of the
Isles of Scilly, |
|
|
(b) |
in relation to Wales,
a county council or a county borough |
|
|
|
|
(c) |
in relation to Scotland,
a council constituted under section 2 of |
|
|
the Local
Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39); |
|
30 |
“the Northern Ireland
department” means the Northern Ireland |
|
|
department having responsibility
for social security; |
|
|
“relevant person”
has the meaning given by section 1(4); |
|
|
“switchover help
functions” has the meaning given by section 1(5); |
|
|
“switchover help
scheme” means any scheme for the provision of help to
|
|
35 |
individuals in connection
with digital switchover which is agreed |
|
|
between the BBC and the
Secretary of State in pursuance of the BBC |
|
|
Charter and Agreement,
as the scheme has effect from time to time. |
|
|
|
|
“digital switchover”
means the replacement of the broadcasting of |
|
40 |
television services in
the United Kingdom in analogue form with their |
|
|
broadcasting in digital
form; |
|
|
“the BBC Charter
and Agreement” means the following documents, or |
|
|
any one or more of them,
so far as they are for the time being in force— |
|
|
(a) |
a Royal Charter for
the continuance of the BBC; |
|
45 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
(b) |
supplemental
Charters obtained by the BBC under such a Royal |
|
|
|
|
(c) |
an agreement between
the BBC and the Secretary of State |
|
|
entered into (whether
before or after the passing of this Act) for |
|
|
purposes that include
the regulation of activities carried on by |
|
5 |
|
|
“broadcasting”
means broadcasting by wireless telegraphy (as defined by |
|
|
section 116 of the Wireless
Telegraphy Act 2006 (c. 36)) otherwise than |
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
(1) |
This Act may be cited
as the Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Act |
|
|
|
|
(2) |
This Act extends to England
and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. |
|
|
(3) |
Her Majesty may by Order
in Council provide for any of the provisions of this |
|
|
Act to extend, with or
without modifications, to the Isle of Man. |
|
15 |
| |
|
|
