Paragraph 18 Confidentiality

All records, returns, plans, maps, samples, assays of samples, accounts and information (in this clause referred to as “specified data”) which the Licensee is or may be from time to time liable to furnish under the provisions of this licence shall be supplied at the expense of the Licensee and shall not be disclosed by the Secretary of State to any person not in the service or employment of the Crown, except as prescribed in section 13(1) of the Act or as provided below, for 12 years from the date of receipt or until the expiry of the licence, whichever is the longer.

The Secretary of State shall be entitled at any time to furnish any of the specified data to the Natural Environment Research Council and to any other body of like nature as may from time to time be carrying on activities of a substantially similar kind to the activities at present carried on by the said Council.

The Secretary of State, the said Council and any other such body shall be entitled at any time to prepare and publish reports and surveys of a general nature using information derived from any of the specified data. The Secretary of State shall consult the Licensee about such general reports prior to their publication and shall ensure that any comments of the Licensee are given due consideration.