Part 1: Access to Customer Data and Business Data Fees etc and financial assistance Section 13: Financial assistance
Subsection (1) of section 13 provides statutory authority for the Secretary of State or the Treasury to give financial assistance to a person for the purpose of meeting any expenses incurred by that person in performing duties or exercising powers imposed or conferred by or under Part 1 regulations and in exercising connected functions.
	Subsections (2) and (3) stipulate that financial assistance cannot be provided to data holders, customers, or third party recipients (other than a third party recipient that is a public authority which is subject to requirements imposed by regulations under section 4(4)), or persons acting on their behalf.
	Under subsection (4), the assistance may be given on terms and conditions that the Secretary of State or the Treasury deem appropriate.
	Subsection (5) defines "financial assistance" as any kind of financial assistance whether actual or contingent, including a grant, loan, guarantee or indemnity but does not include the purchase of shares.
	It is intended that Smart Data schemes will be "self-financing" (through the fees and levies provided for by sections 11 and 12) but it is deemed appropriate for there to be a statutory spending authority as a "backstop" should that be necessary.