Commentary on Sections Permitted disclosure Section 241: Statutory functions
606.This section enables public authorities holding information to disclose specified information to persons exercising specified statutory functions.
607.Subsection (1) provides that a public authority that holds information to which the disclosure provisions in this Part apply may disclose that information for the purpose of facilitating the exercise by that public authority of any of its statutory functions.
608.Subsection (2) provides that if information is disclosed under subsection (1) in circumstances in which it is not put into the public domain (for example where it is not published in the press), such information must not be further disclosed by the recipient of the information without the agreement of the public authority that disclosed the information to it, and disclosure may only be for the purpose of facilitating the exercise by the public authority that made the original disclosure of its statutory functions.
609.Subsection (3) provides that specified information held by public authorities can be disclosed to any person for the purpose of facilitating the exercise of any function that that person has under this Act, any of the Acts specified in Schedule 15 or any secondary legislation specified by the Secretary of State by an order made for the purpose of this subsection.
610.Subsection (4) provides that information disclosed to a person exercising a function under one of the Acts or pieces of legislation specified in subsection (3) can only be used for a purpose relating to that function.
611.Subsection (5) provides that the term ‘enactment’ will be taken to refer to both primary and secondary legislation, including Scottish and Northern Ireland legislation.
612.Subsection (6) empowers the Secretary of State to amend the lists of enactments in Schedule 15.
613.Subsection (8) provides that statutory instruments made under subsection (6) will be subject to the negative Parliamentary procedure.