Part 7: Other provision about use of, or access to, data Information to improve public service delivery Section 123: Disclosure of information to improve public service delivery to undertakings
Section 35 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 (DEA 2017) provides a legal gateway to enable specified public authorities to share information to improve the delivery of public services to individuals and households. Section 123 of the Act amends section 35 DEA 2017 to also enable the sharing of information to improve the delivery of public services to businesses.
	Section 35 of the DEA 2017 allows only public authorities that are listed in Schedule 4 of the Act to share information for tightly constrained objectives which benefit individuals or households. In addition to being listed in Schedule 4, each public authority must also be authorised by regulations to use the power to share information under each different objective. These same constraints will apply to objectives which have the purpose of improving the delivery of public services to businesses.
	Under section 35, objectives are subject to the following conditions: they must be set out in regulations; for the improvement or targeting of the provision of a public service or the provision of a benefit (financial or otherwise); and support the delivery of a specified public authority’s functions. This includes the administration, monitoring or enforcement of the delivery of the function. These conditions will apply to objectives which have the purpose of improving the delivery of public services to businesses in the same way they apply to objectives relating to individuals and households.
	Section 35 of the DEA 2017 includes a further requirement that the sharing of information to improve public service delivery to individuals or households must have as its purpose the improvement of the well-being of individuals or households. This provision will require that where information is being shared for the benefit of businesses, objectives have as their purpose the assisting of undertakings in connection with any trade, business or charitable purpose.
	The provision uses the term "undertakings" for businesses, the definition of which includes any business, whether or not run for profit, along with any organisation established for charitable purposes. Because the definition of "charitable purposes" is drawn from different Acts in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; the provision uses the definition from section 2 of the Charities Act 2011 to ensure that a uniform definition is being applied throughout the UK.