Part 5: Digital Government Chapter 7: Statistics Section 80: Access to information by Statistics Board
This section inserts new sections 45B to 45G into the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 ("the 2007 Act") to give the Statistics Board access to information held by a range of different bodies.
	New section 45B (access to information held by Crown bodies etc) concerns access by the Statistics Board to information held by Crown bodies and other named bodies. Subsection (2) of new section 45B provides that the Board has a right of access to information which is held by a Crown body, or one of these other named bodies, in connection with the body’s functions and which is required by the Board to enable it to exercise one or more of its functions.
	New section 45B allows the Statistics Board to make a formal written request for information from Crown bodies. The right is subject to the terms of new sections 45B and 45E. The body in question must respond in writing to the request, either indicating it is willing to provide the information (and the date it will provide it) or that it is not willing to provide the information (and giving reasons for not providing it). If the body does not provide the information requested the Statistics Board may bring the matter to the legislature’s attention by laying the request and the body’s response before Parliament or the relevant devolved legislature. Subsection (3) of new section 45B specifies that it does not authorise a disclosure that would contravene the Data Protection Act 1998, would be prohibited by any of Parts 1 to 7 or Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (or, until such time as those provisions are in force, would be prohibited by Part 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000) or would contravene EU law.
	New section 45C (power to require disclosures by other public authorities) confers powers on the Statistics Board, by notice in writing, to require the disclosure of information held by other public authorities. The information required will be specified in a notice. The notice may also specify times and dates to which the information relates, the date by which, and the form and manner in which, the information must be disclosed. Subsection (6) of new section 45C also allows the Statistics Board to include in a notice a requirement for a public authority to consult the Board before making changes to its processes for collecting, organising, storing or retrieving information to which the notice relates, or to processes for supplying such information to the Board.
	Subsection (8) of new section 45C provides that the Statistics Board may only issue a request or a notice if the information to be disclosed is required by the Board for any one or more of the Board’s functions.
	By subsections (9) to (11) of new section 45C, the Statistics Board must obtain the consent of Ministers in the devolved administrations before giving a notice to a public authority that is:
a Scottish public authority, defined by reference to the Scotland Act 1998,
a devolved Welsh authority, as defined by the Government of Wales Act 2006, or
a public authority that exercises devolved functions only as regards Northern Ireland.
	Subsection (13) of new section 45C specifies that it does not authorise a disclosure that might prejudice national security, would contravene the Data Protection Act 1998, would be prohibited by any of Parts 1 to 7 or Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (or, until such time as those provisions are in force, would be prohibited by Part 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000) or would contravene EU law.
	New section 45D (power to require disclosure by undertakings) confers a power on the Statistics Board, by notice in writing, to require the disclosure of information held by undertakings. As with new section 45C, the information required will be specified in a notice, which may also specify the times and dates to which the information relates, the date by which, and the form and manner in which, the information must be disclosed. Subsection (5) of new section 45D also allows the Statistics Board to include in a notice a requirement for the undertaking to consult the Board before making changes to its processes for collecting, organising, storing or retrieving information to which the notice relates, or to processes for supplying such information to the Board.
	Subsection (7) of new section 45D provides that the Statistics Board may only issue a notice if the information to be disclosed is required by the Board for any one or more of the Board's functions.
	Subsection (9) of new section 45D specifies that it does not authorise a disclosure that might prejudice national security, would contravene the Data Protection Act 1998, would be prohibited by any of Parts 1 to 7 or Chapter 1 of Part 9 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (or, until such time as those provisions are in force, would be prohibited by Part 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000).
	Subsection (11) of new section 45D provides a definition of an undertaking for the purposes of section 45D.
	New section 45E (further provisions about powers in sections 45B, 45C and 45D) sets out additional provisions which are common to new sections 45B, 45C and 45D. Subsections (2) and (3) of new section 45E prevent information disclosed in response to a request or a notice from being used by the Statistics Board for the purposes of its functions under section 22 of the 2007 Act (statistical services), or disclosed by the Board to an approved researcher under section 39(4)(i) of the 2007 Act, without the consent of the public authority or undertaking which provided that information. Subsection (4) of new section 45E provides that a disclosure in response to a request does not breach any obligation of confidence or any other restriction on disclosure.
	Subsections (5) and (8) of new section 45E require the Statistics Board to prepare, consult on, and publish a statement of principles and procedures by which it will exercise its functions under this section. The draft statement must be laid before Parliament. By subsection (6), it must be consistent with the code of practice issued by the Information Commissioner under section 52B of the Data Protection Act 1998.
	By subsection (10) of new section 45E, the first version of the statement must be approved by resolution of each House of Parliament before it can be published. Subsections (11) and (12) of new section 45E set out the procedure to be followed before the Statistics Board may publish a revised statement. Subsection (15) of section 45E provides that after preparing or revising a statement, the Statistics Board must lay it before the devolved legislatures.
	Subsection (16) of new section 45E provides that in exercising any of its functions under sections 45B, 45C or 45D, the Statistics Board must have regard to any applicable code of practice the Information Commissioner has issued under section 51(3) of the Data Protection Act 1998 on the identification and reduction of risks to privacy, in so far as the code applies to the information in question. This would include the current code on privacy impact assessments.
	New section 45F (offences relating to notices under section 45C or 45D) makes it an offence to fail to comply with a notice issued under new sections 45C or 45D without reasonable excuse, or if in purporting to comply with a notice a person knowingly or recklessly provides false information.
	Subsection (1) of new section 45G (code of practice on changes to data systems) requires the Statistics Board to prepare, consult on, and publish a code of practice setting out guidance that public authorities, including Crown bodies, need to take into account when making such changes. The purpose of the code is to ensure that the requirements of the Statistics Board are taken into account when public authorities change their collection and storage of information in ways that could affect the continued supply of information which is used to compile official statistics. Subsection (2) of new section 45G requires a public authority to have regard to that code of practice in making such changes. By subsection (6) of new section 45G, the first version of the code must be approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament before it can be published. Subsections (7) and (8) of new section 45G set out the procedure to be followed before the Statistics Board may publish a revised code. Subsection (11) of new section 45G provides that after preparing or revising a code, the Statistics Board must lay it before the devolved legislatures.