The Digital Economy Act 2017 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2018

Made: 15th March 2018

The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 118(4), (6) and (7) of the Digital Economy Act 2017[^f00001]:

Citation and interpretation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Digital Economy Act 2017 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2018.

• (2) In these Regulations, “the Act” means the Digital Economy Act 2017.

Provisions coming into force on 6th April 2018

2

Section 105 (secondary ticketing: duty to provide information) of the Act comes into force on 6th April 2018, in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only.

Provisions coming into force on 1st May 2018

3

The following provisions of the Act come into force on 1st May 2018—

• (a) section 35 (disclosure of information to improve public service delivery), for all remaining purposes, in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (b) section 36 (disclosure of information to gas and electricity suppliers etc), for all remaining purposes;

• (c) section 37 (disclosure of information by gas and electricity suppliers etc);

• (d) section 38 (disclosure of information to water and sewerage undertakers etc), for all remaining purposes;

• (e) section 39 (disclosure of information by water and sewerage undertakers etc), for all remaining purposes;

• (f) section 40 (further provisions about disclosures under any of sections 35 to 39), for all remaining purposes, in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (g) section 41 (confidentiality of personal information), for all remaining purposes, in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (h) section 42 (information disclosed by the Revenue and Customs), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (i) section 44 (regulations under Chapter 1), for all remaining purposes, in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (j) section 45 (interpretation of Chapter 1 etc), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (k) section 46 (disclosure of information by civil registration officials), for all remaining purposes, except so far as those purposes relate to Northern Ireland;

• (l) section 47 (consequential provision: civil registration), for all remaining purposes, except so far as those purposes relate to Northern Ireland;

• (m) section 48 (disclosure of information to reduce debt owed to the public sector), for all remaining purposes, in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (n) section 49 (further provisions about the power in section 48), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (o) section 50 (confidentiality of personal information), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (p) section 51 (information disclosed by the Revenue and Customs), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (q) section 53 (duty to review operation of Chapter 3), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (r) section 54 (regulations under Chapter 3), for all remaining purposes, in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (s) section 55 (interpretation of Chapter 3), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (t) section 56 (disclosure of information to combat fraud against the public sector), for all remaining purposes, in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (u) section 57 (further provisions about power in section 56), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (v) section 58 (confidentiality of personal information), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (w) section 59 (information disclosed by the Revenue and Customs), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (x) section 61 (duty to review operation of Chapter 4), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (y) section 62 (regulations under Chapter 4), for all remaining purposes, in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (z) section 63 (interpretation of Chapter 4), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (aa) section 64 (disclosure of information for research purposes), for all remaining purposes;

• (bb) section 65 (provisions supplementary to section 64), for all remaining purposes;

• (cc) section 66 (bar on further disclosure of personal information), for all remaining purposes;

• (dd) section 67 (information disclosed by the Revenue and Customs), for all remaining purposes;

• (ee) section 68 (information disclosed by the Welsh Revenue Authority), for all remaining purposes;

• (ff) section 69 (information disclosed by Revenue Scotland); for all remaining purposes;

• (gg) section 70 (code of practice), for all remaining purposes;

• (hh) section 71 (accreditation for the purposes of Chapter 5), for all remaining purposes;

• (ii) section 72 (delegation of functions of the Statistics Board), for all remaining purposes;

• (jj) section 73 (interpretation of Chapter 5), for all remaining purposes;

• (kk) section 79 (disclosure of information by public authorities to the Statistics Board), for all remaining purposes.

• (ll) section 80 (access to information by the Statistics Board), for all remaining purposes;

• (mm) section 81 (disclosure by the Statistics Board to devolved administrations), for all remaining purposes);

• (nn) Schedule 4 (public service delivery: specified persons for the purposes of section 35), for all remaining purposes, in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only;

• (oo) Schedule 5 (public service delivery: specified persons for the purposes of sections 36 and 37);

• (pp) Schedule 6 (public service delivery: specified persons for the purposes of sections 38 and 39), for all remaining purposes;

• (qq) Schedule 7 (specified persons for the purposes of the debt provisions), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only; and

• (rr) Schedule 8 (specified persons for the purposes of the fraud provisions), in relation to England and Wales and Scotland only.

Signed

Matthew Hancock — Secretary of State — Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport — 15th March 2018

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations bring into force specified provisions in Part 5 (Digital Government) of the Digital Economy Act 2017 (c.30), which provide information-sharing powers for public authorities and other persons, and access to information for the Statistics Board (which is usually known as the UK Statistics Authority).

They also bring into force section 105, in Part 6, which concerns information about secondary ticketing. Section 105 amends section 90(4) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c.15) by adding a further category of information necessary to enable a buyer of a ticket for a recreational, sporting or cultural event in the United Kingdom to identify a particular seat or standing area.

They are the fourth commencement regulations for the Digital Economy Act 2017. The Welsh Ministers have, in addition, made commencement regulations in relation to the disclosure of information to or by a water or sewerage undertaker for an area which is wholly or mainly in Wales, and in relation to the disclosure of information by the Welsh Revenue Authority (SI 2018/342 (W. 62) (C. 29).

The Explanatory Notes for the Digital Economy Act 2017 provide an explanation of the provisions in the Act and are available online (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/30/pdfs/ukpgaen_20170030_en.pdf) and in hard copy from TSO, PO Box 29, Norwich, NR3 1GN (telephone orders/general enquiries: 0333 202 5070). A full impact assessment for Part 5 is available from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, 100 Parliament Street, London SW1A 2BQ or online at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/567321/2016-06-21_Digital_government_impact_assessments.pdf.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2017 c. 30