Information which is held by or on behalf of a permitted person (whether obtained before or after this section comes into force) may be disclosed to the Commission or a committee of the Commission for the purposes of selection under this Part.
A disclosure under this section is not to be taken to breach any restriction on the disclosure of information (however imposed).
But nothing in this section authorises the making of a disclosure—
This section does not affect a power to disclose which exists apart from this section.
The following are permitted persons—
The Lord Chancellor may by order designate as permitted persons other persons who exercise functions which he considers are of a public nature (including a body or person discharging regulatory functions in relation to any description of activities).
Information must not be disclosed under this section on behalf of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue or on behalf of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise unless the Commissioners concerned authorise the disclosure.
The power to authorise a disclosure under subsection (7) may be delegated (either generally or for a specific purpose)—
For the purposes of this section a customs officer is a person commissioned by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise under section 6(3) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (c. 2).
In this section, "the data protection legislation" has the same meaning as in the Data Protection Act 2018 (see section 3 of that Act).