Part 1: The Small Business Commissioner Section 8: Confidentiality
This section prohibits the Commissioner from disclosing to third parties information which is likely to reveal that the complainant has raised a complaint, unless the disclosure is covered by certain exceptions. This does not stop the Commissioner from carrying out his/her functions; for example, the Commissioner is not prevented from publishing a report under section 6 or informing the respondent of the complaint, although in some cases it may be appropriate not to reveal the complainant’s identity in doing so. But this section would stop the Commissioner from speaking publicly about the complaint before the report stage, if the complainant could be identified from this.
	The prohibition in section 8 does not apply if (1) the complainant consents to disclosure, (2) the disclosure is made by the Commissioner to the respondent in relation to the complaint or in a report on a complaint published under section 6, (3) disclosure is required to comply with an EU obligation (as defined in Schedule 1 to the European Communities Act 1972; any such obligation could not be overridden by the Act), (4) disclosure is required by court or tribunal rules, or a court or tribunal order, for the purpose of legal proceedings, or (5) the information is already in the public domain. However, section 8 is intended to prevent the disclosure of information to which the section applies being required by a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (see section 44 of that Act).