Section 132 — Welfare Reform Act 2012: Unlawful disclosure of information supplied under section 131

Unlawful disclosure of information supplied under section 131 132 1 A person to whom subsection (2) applies is guilty of an offence if the person discloses without lawful authority any information—

a which comes to the person by virtue of section 131(1), (3) or (4),

and b which relates to a particular person.

2 This subsection applies to—

a a person mentioned in section 131(11) (a) to (c);

b a person who provides qualifying welfare services (within the meaning of section 131);

c a person who is or has been a director, member of the committee of management, manager, secretary or other similar officer of a person mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b);

d a person who is or has been an employee of a person mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b).

3 A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

a on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or a fine or both, or b on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a magistrates’ court or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both.

4 It is not an offence under this section—

a to disclose information in the form of a summary or collection of information so framed as not to enable information relating to any particular person to be ascertained from it;

b to disclose information which has previously been disclosed to the public with lawful authority.

5 It is a defence for a person (“D”) charged with an offence under this section to prove that at the time of the alleged offence—

a D believed that D was making the disclosure in question with lawful authority and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise, or b D believed that the information in question had previously been disclosed to the public with lawful authority and had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise.

6 A disclosure is made with lawful authority if it is so made for the purposes of section 123 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.

7 This section does not affect that section.

8 Regulations under section 131(11) (g) may include provision for applying the provisions of this section to—

a a person who is a qualifying person within the meaning of section 131 by virtue of the regulations, or b a person associated with such a qualifying person by reason of the person's office or employment or otherwise.

9 In relation to an offence under this section committed in England and Wales before 2 May 2022 the reference in subsection (3) (b) to the general limit in a magistrates’ court must be taken to be a reference to six months.