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The Enterprise Act 2002 (Part 9 Restrictions on Disclosure of Information) (Amendment) Order 2024

S.I. 2024/1291 · Made 4 December 2024

Original text. legislation.gov.uk does not revise statutory instruments, so later amendments are not shown here. Changes made to it are listed under each provision when known.

COMPETITION

CONSUMER PROTECTION

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

Made 4th December 2024

Laid before Parliament 9th December 2024

Coming into force in accordance with article 1

The Secretary of State makes this Order in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 238(5) and (6) and 241(6) of the Enterprise Act 2002f1.

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

2002 c. 40. Section 241 was amended by section 55 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (c. 24).

Contents

  1. 1Citation, commencement and extent
  2. 2Amendment of the Enterprise Act 2002
  3. Signature
  4. Explanatory note

1Citation, commencement and extent

(1)

This Order may be cited as the Enterprise Act 2002 (Part 9 Restrictions on Disclosure of Information) (Amendment) Order 2024.

(2)

Subject to paragraph (3), this Order comes into force on 1st January 2025.

(3)

Article 2(3) so far as it inserts a reference to the Procurement Act 2023f1 comes into force on 24th February 2025.

(4)

This Order extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

2Amendment of the Enterprise Act 2002

(1)

The Enterprise Act 2002 is amended as follows.

(2)

In Schedule 14 (specified functions)f1, at the appropriate place insert—

(3)

In Schedule 15 (enactments conferring functions)f3, at the appropriate places insert—

  • “Schedule 11 to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (c. 29).”;

Signature

Justin Madders

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets

4th December 2024

Department for Business and Trade

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the lists of enactments in Schedules 14 and 15 to the Enterprise Act 2002 (c. 40) (“the Act”).

Part 9 of the Act restricts the disclosure of specified information which relates to the affairs of an individual or any business of an undertaking. Specified information, defined in section 238 of the Act, includes information which comes to a public authority in connection with the exercise of any function it has under an enactment specified in Schedule 14.

Section 241(3) of the Act provides that a public authority may disclose specified information to another person for the purposes of facilitating the exercise of any function that person has under or by virtue of, amongst other things, enactments specified in Schedule 15.

Article 2(2) amends the list of enactments in Schedule 14 to include articles 13A to 13E of the Company Directors Disqualification (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/3150 (N.I. 4)) which relates to the disqualification of directors of companies registered in Northern Ireland in connection with competition infringements. Article 2(2) therefore ensures that information which comes to a public authority in connection with its functions under those articles is subject to the general restriction on disclosure of specified information in Part 9 of the Act, unless its disclosure is permitted under one of the disclosure gateways in that Part.

Article 2(3) amends the list of enactments in Schedule 15 to include the Bank of England Act 1998 (c. 11), the Banking Act 2009 (c. 1) and Schedule 11 to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (c. 29), all of which confer functions on the Bank of England. It also adds the Procurement Act 2023 (c.54) which confers functions in relation to the public procurement regime in the United Kingdom and contains provisions regarding the exclusion of suppliers in connection with infringements or potential infringements of competition law. Article 2(3) therefore enables a public authority which holds specified information, the disclosure of which is restricted by Part 9 of the Act, to disclose that information to the Bank of England or contracting authorities under the Procurement Act 2023, for example, for the purpose of facilitating the exercise by them of functions under those enactments.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.