Other purposes for which registered information can be provided
Section 17: Public authorities etc.
116.This section gives a power to provide information held on the Register to certain persons for specified purposes without the consent of the registered person. Subsection (1) allows for this provision so long as it is authorised by this section and complies with section 21 (which sets out the rules for using information without an individual’s consent).
117.Subsection (2) provides that information may be provided without the consent of the individual, to specified national security and intelligence agencies for purposes connected with any of their functions. For example, the Security Service would be able to be provided with information for purposes connected with the protection of national security, the support of law enforcement agencies in the prevention and detection of serious crime and to safeguard the economic well-being of the United Kingdom, which are their statutory functions as set out in the Security Services Act 1989.
118.Subsection (3) provides a power to provide information apart from that specified within paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 (the audit log) to a chief officer of police, in the interests of national security, for the prevention or detection of crime or for other purposes as may be specified by order. Paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 (the audit log) records the details of each occasion on which there has been provision of information from a person’s Register entry, as opposed to “static” information held on the Register, such as place and date of birth.
119.A similar power is provided in subsection (4) for the provision of information without consent (except audit log information) to the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, in the interests of national security, for the purposes of prevention and detection of crime, for functions relating to national insurance contributions and for the other purposes connected with the Commissioners set out in subsection (4).
120.Where information does not fall within paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 (i.e. it is not audit log information), provision of that information is permitted if it is made to a prescribed government department or a Northern Ireland department in order to carry out prescribed functions of that department or of the Minister in charge of that department (subsection (5)). Regulations could therefore be made permitting the provision of information without consent to other parts of government or Northern Ireland departments, e.g. to the Department for Work and Pensions for investigation of social security fraud, or to the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland in connection with social security benefits or national insurance numbers. Regulations allowing information to be provided under this power will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure (subsection (8)).
121.Subsection (6) sets out the purposes for which information may be provided without consent to a designated documents authority that issues documents designated under section 4.
122.Subsection (7) limits the Secretary of State’s powers to authorise provision of information by subordinate legislation under this section to circumstances where provision is necessary in the public interest, as defined in section 1(4).
123.Subsection (9) defines terms used in section 17, in particular exactly who is covered by the term “chief officer of police”.
124.“Crime” is defined in section 42(1) with reference to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 which defines “crime” as “conduct which constitutes one or more criminal offences or is, or corresponds to, any conduct which, if it all took place in any one part of the United Kingdom would constitute one or more criminal offences”.
125.“Detection” is defined in section 42(1) and (9) with reference to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 which defines “detecting crime” as including “(a) establishing by whom, for what purpose, by what means and generally in what circumstances any crime was committed; and (b) the apprehension of the person by whom any crime was committed”.
126.Subsection (10) ensures that this section does not restrict any powers existing elsewhere to disclose information.
Section 18: Prevention and detection of crime
127.This section sets out other circumstances in which information from the Register may be provided without consent of the registered person.Subsection (1) provides a power for this provision so long as it is authorised in this section and section 21 is complied with.
128.Subsection (2) authorises the provision of information (other than audit log information) without consent for any of the purposes specified in sections 17(2)(a) to (d) of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (which include provision for disclosing information for the purposes of criminal investigations or proceedings overseas), but only if section 21 is complied with.
129.Subsection (3) allows the Secretary of State to prohibit the provision of information without consent for use in overseas proceedings (under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001) as specified in section 18 of that Act (which allows the Secretary of State to give a direction that would prohibit the provision of information that could be used for the purposes of any overseas proceedings that would otherwise occur under section 17 of that Act) e.g. the Secretary of State might do this if he considered that it would be more appropriate for these proceedings to be conducted in a United Kingdom court.
130.Provision of information falling within paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 (audit log information), is authorised if it is to the persons listed in section 17(3) to (5) of this Act and is for purposes connected with preventing or detecting serious crime or if it is authorised under section 18(2) for use in overseas criminal investigations or proceedings, and is concerned with the prevention and detection of serious crime. This applies a higher threshold where the information being disclosed relates to the audit log rather than simply to static information about name, address etc.
131.“Serious crime” is defined in section 42 with reference to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 which defines serious crime as a crime that “(a) involves the use of violence, results in substantial financial gain or is conducted by a large number of persons in pursuit of a common purpose, or (b) the offence or one of the offences is an offence for which a person who has attained the age of twenty-one and has no previous convictions could reasonably be expected to be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of three years or more”.
Section 19: Correcting inaccurate or incomplete information
132.This section provides a power to provide information from the Register to a person or organisation who has supplied information (including but not restricted to information provided under section 9) to help verify an entry in the Register where information provided appears to be inaccurate or incomplete. For example, where it appears that the organisation that supplied the information has an out of date or inaccurate address held on its records.
133.Subsection (1) sets out the circumstances in which information may be provided under this section. Under subsection (2), the Secretary of State may give to someone who has provided incomplete or inaccurate information, information about how it is inaccurate or incomplete and what is in fact recorded. Again, section 21 must be complied with (subsection (3)).
134.Subsection (4) defines what is meant by providing information about an individual for verification purposes.
Section 20: Power to authorise provision of information in other circumstances
135.This section provides (Subsection (1)) that where there is no authorisation under sections 17 to 19 the Secretary of State may nevertheless provide information without consent where an order has been made specifying or describing the information, to a public authority so specified or described, for purposes so specified or described as long as any requirements under section 21 are complied with. The Secretary of State’s power to authorise the provision of such information is restricted to circumstances where the provision is necessary in the public interest (subsection (2)). This order (subsection (3)) is subject to an affirmative resolution procedure. The information which can be provided is limited to information not falling within paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 (the audit log information).
Section 21: Rules for providing information without individual’s consent
136.Subsection (1) provides that provision of information in paragraph 2 of schedule 1 (photograph, signature, fingerprints or other biometric information) under sections 17 to 20 may only be authorised where the Secretary of State is satisfied that it was not reasonably practicable for the person to have obtained the information by another means. For example, if fingerprint information is recorded on the Register, the police would first have to search their own fingerprint records before requesting information to be provided from the Register.
137.Subsections (2) to (4) allow the Secretary of State to make regulations imposing requirements for providing information under sections 17 to 20, such as specifying the persons who may make a request for information and how it is to be made and authorised before any information is provided under sections 17 to 20.
138.Subsection (5) allows the Secretary of State to make regulations setting out the rank, office or position of people who would be authorised to receive information on behalf of those persons listed in sections 17 to 20. For example, a police officer of a specified rank may be authorised to be provided with information on behalf of a chief officer of police.
139.Subsection (6) in effect obliges the Secretary of State to make that portion of the regulations which sets up an accreditation system, because provision of information under sections 17 to 20 will not be lawful unless the recipient has been accredited or is referred to on the face of the Act, e.g. a chief officer of police.
140.Regulations under section 21 will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure (subsection (7)).