Part 2: Health and Adult Social Care Information Section 92: Information about payments etc to persons in the health care sector
Subsection (1) enables the Secretary of State to make regulations requiring manufacturers and commercial suppliers of health care products, and connected persons, to either publish (subsection (1)(a)) or provide to the Secretary of State (subsection (1)(b)) information about payments or other benefits provided by them to relevant persons. The terms commercial supplier and manufacturer are defined in subsection (12). The terms connected person and relevant person are described in Subsection (11) and will be defined further in regulations made under this section.
	Subsection (2) enables the regulations made under subsection (1) to make provision about when and how the information must be published or provided. For example, this could include specific requirements about the frequency that information must be either published or provided and the place where the information must be published.
	Subsection (3) describes the type of provision the regulations may make about the information which must be published or provided pursuant to subsection (1). For example, this may include the name of the recipient or provider of the payment/benefit, the value of the payment/benefit, and the reason for which the payment was made or the benefit given. This is a non-exhaustive list.
	Subsection (4) enables regulations to make provision permitting or requiring the further sharing, publication or use of the information. For example, this would enable regulations to make provision about the Secretary of State’s ability to share information received with others and provision about how those persons can use that information where this will assist with the publication of the information.
	Subsection (5) enables regulations to make provision requiring manufacturers, commercial suppliers, and connected persons to retain information relating to payments or other benefits provided by them to relevant persons. This ensures that there is a record maintained which can be used to support enforcement activity.
	Subsection (6)(a) enables regulations made under subsection (1) to authorise the Secretary of State to designate a reporting scheme operated by someone other than the Secretary of State as a "relevant scheme" if the Secretary of State considers that the provision of information under the alternative scheme would render compliance with some, or all, of the requirements imposed by regulations made under subsection (1) unnecessary. Subsection (6)(b) enables regulations made under subsection (1) to create exceptions from requirements to publish or provide information where manufacturers, commercial suppliers or connected persons provide information under a designated relevant scheme. The intention is that if a third party, (e.g. a trade association) operated a reporting scheme of an appropriate standard, persons participating in that scheme could be exempt from a requirement in the regulations made pursuant to subsection (1) to publish or provide information. Subsection (6)(c) enables provision to be made in the regulations requiring operators of relevant schemes to provide information they receive through the operation of relevant schemes to the Secretary of State and for the Secretary of State to publish this information. This would enable the Secretary of State to operate a comprehensive database of information about payments if necessary.
	Subsection (7) enables the Secretary of State to place information retention requirements on persons running a relevant scheme as designated under subsection (6).
	Subsection (8) clarifies that the provision for exceptions that may be made by the regulations includes authorising the Secretary of State to make discretionary exemptions from a requirement to publish or provide information in particular cases, on grounds specified in the regulations.
	Subsection (9) enables the regulations to provide that the disclosure of information pursuant to the regulations will not breach an obligation of confidence or other restriction placed on the disclosure of the information. This is necessary to ensure policy aims around transparency are met and businesses are not prevented from publishing or providing information and the Secretary of State is not prohibited from making it publicly available. Subsection (9)(b) does not allow the creation of an exception from restrictions imposed by data protection legislation which will still need to be complied with.
	Subsection (10) enables the regulations to limit the businesses subject to a requirement to report or provide information by reference to the manufacturers’ or commercial suppliers’ connection to the United Kingdom, or a part of it.
	Subsection (11) defines connected person and relevant person. Subsection (11)(a) and (11)(b)(ii) allow these terms to be further defined in regulations.
	Subsection (12) provides definitions for terms used in this section.