Commentary on Sections Part 3: Other Measures to Prevent or Disrupt Serious and Other Crime Chapter 1: Prevention of Fraud.Sharing information with anti-fraud organisations Section 68: Disclosure of information to prevent fraud
234.Subsection (1) confers power on a public authority (defined in subsection (8)) to disclose information as a member of a specified anti-fraud organisation or otherwise in accordance with arrangements made by such an organisation (also defined in subsection (8)) for the purposes of preventing fraud. Subsection (2) provides that the information that may be so disclosed can be of any kind (subsection 2(a)) and identifies the persons to whom it can be disclosed (subsection (2)(b)). Subsection (3) provides that such disclosure does not breach any obligation of confidence owed by the public authority, or any other restrictions on the disclosure of the information. Subsection (4) provides that the section does not authorise any disclosure in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 or which is prohibited by Part 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (which regulates the interception of communications). Subsection (5) provides that nothing in the section authorises disclosure by a relevant public authority of information which relates to matters devolved to Scotland. Subsection (6) defines ‘relevant public authority’ for this purpose by reference to the Scotland Act 1998. Subsection (7) provides that the section does not limit the circumstances in which information may be disclosed apart from the power in the section (for example, disclosure by virtue of the common law). Subsection (8) defines ‘an anti-fraud organisation’ (that is, one which enables or facilitates sharing of information to prevent fraud); ‘information’; ‘public authority’ (which means any public authority under section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998) and ‘specified’ (which means specified by an order by the Secretary of State: see section 85 for further provision about such orders).