Part 5: Digital Government Chapter 1: Public Service Delivery Section 36: Disclosure of information to gas and electricity suppliers etc
This section allows the persons specified in Schedule 5 (public service delivery: specified persons for the purposes of sections 36 and 37) to disclose information to licensed gas or electricity suppliers. The disclosure must be for the purpose of assisting people living in fuel poverty by reducing their energy costs, or improving efficiency in their use of energy or improving their health or financial well-being.
	The disclosure must be in connection with a fuel poverty measure listed in subsection (3). These measures are grant schemes made under section 15 of the Social Security Act 1990 by the Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers, the Warm Home Discount (which is made under Part 2 of the Energy Act 2010) and the Energy Company Obligation (which is made under various provisions of the Gas Act 1986 and the Electricity Act 1989). These schemes do not extend to Northern Ireland.
	Section 142 of the Pensions Act 2008 already enables the disclosure of social security information about persons in receipt of state pension credit in connection with the Warm Home Discount scheme. This has been used to enable electricity suppliers to automatically provide rebates to customers on state pension credit under the Warm Home Discount scheme, without the need for the customers to identify themselves by applying for support. This section will enable other datasets to be used for the purpose of providing support under the Warm Home Discount and Energy Company Obligation schemes or under grant schemes in Scotland and Wales to people living in fuel poverty.
	Subsections (5) to (8) enable the "appropriate national authority" to make regulations to amend the list of specified persons in Schedule 5, to amend the list of fuel poverty measures in subsection (3) in connection with which information may be disclosed under the section, and to amend subsection (1) so as to add or remove persons permitted to receive information under the section. See section 45 for how to identify who the appropriate national authority is in particular cases.