12.The effect of section 2 is that information provided under section 1 may be used only for the purposes specified in subsection (1). The primary purpose in question for the time being is the issue of free television licences. However, to cover the possibility that other concessionary television licence schemes may be introduced in the future for which the powers provided in the Act would be similarly necessary, subsection (1) provides that information supplied under the Act may also be used in connection with “reduced-fee licences”. These are defined in section 2(2) to be television licences for which a reduced fee is payable and which fall into a category of such licences prescribed for the purposes of the Act by the Secretary of State. Thus, the creation of a new concessionary scheme would not in itself allow the BBC to use information passed to it under the Act for the purposes of administering that new scheme: that will depend on whether or not the Secretary of State chooses to make an order designating the scheme.
Commentary on Sections Section 2