Commentary on Sections Support for participation in education and training Section 254: Provision of social security information for purposes of functions under Education and Skills Act 2008
862.Subsection (2) of section 254 omits section 15 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 so that social security information may no be longer supplied directly to an LEA for Part 1 purposes. Social security could still be provided by a Connexions service provider to a local education authority where that is permitted under section 76 of that Act.
863.The Government intends that information that can be shared by a LEA and its Connexions service provider under section 17 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 will be held on a database operated by the authority or service provider. Subsection (4) amends section 17(1) to make clear that this is permitted. The database for each area will be known as “the Client Caseload Information System” (CCIS).
864.Subsection (5) excludes, from the category of information that can be shared under section 17, information that was supplied to a Connexions service provider under section 72 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (which relates to 16/17 year old benefit claimants).
865.Subsection (6) amends section 17 to make it clear that the ability to share information under that section does not displace any statutory prohibition on disclosing the information.
866.At present, section 76 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 allows the Secretary of State (here the Department for Work and Pensions) or a contractor of that department, to provide limited social security information to a Connexions service provider for use for Connexions purposes. Subsection (9) amends section 76 to allow the information to be provided instead to the Secretary of State (here the Department for Children, Schools and Families) or a contractor of that department (inserted subsection (3B) of section 76) for onward transmission to Connexions service providers. Inserted subsection (3A) confers the necessary power on the Secretary of State (here the Department for Children, Schools and Families) to make arrangements for the transmission of information in this way.
867.Inserted subsections (3B) to (3E) set out the circumstances in which information that originated with the Department for Work and Pensions or a contractor of that department and is supplied under section 76 may be disclosed. These include enabling or assisting the exercise of any function of a LEA under Part 1. Subsections (4) and (4A) also create an offence which prevents this information being provided for any other purpose, and replaces the offence for which section 76 already provides.