Commentary Background Commentary on Sections Section 5 - Provision of information
28.Subsections (1) and (2) provide that the duties in sections 2 to 4 do not apply to principal local authorities if information has not been provided by the connected authorities, monitoring boards, courts boards, youth offending teams and (in the case of lay justices) the Lord Chancellor, respectively, after it has been requested of them.
29.Subsections (3) and (4) provide the appropriate national authority with the power to make an order which would require one or more connected authorities or the bodies listed under section 3(2) to provide information to the principal local authorities. It is intended that this power will only be used if the intention of the duty is significantly frustrated by the failure of one or more authorities to provide the necessary information to the principal local authorities.
30.Subsection (5) provides that subsections (1) to (3) do not apply to a district council in a two-tier area, because alternative arrangements for those principal local authorities are covered in subsection (6).
31.Subsection (6) establishes how the duties in sections 2 to 4 operate in two-tier areas. Districts in two-tier areas are required to promote understanding of the matters in sections 1 to 4. However, county councils are responsible for requesting the information, at least once a year, from persons listed under sections 2, 3 and 4 on behalf of the district councils. The county council must then pass on information it receives to the district councils. Where a county has been informed of material changes to information previously disseminated to its district councils, it is required to inform them accordingly. District councils in two-tier areas will not have failed to meet their duties under sections 2, 3 and 4 if the necessary information has not been passed to them by the county council.