Paul Couldrey asks
>Perhaps any of you have been asked to answered this question in the past, is
>a Water supplier classed as a prosecuting authority and as such rely upon a
>section 29 exemption for disclosure of forwarding addresses of council
>tenants?
A Water company is now a private commercial organisation, with an interest in chasing its debtors at the least cost to itself, and local authority Council tax records would be a cheap source of information, as they would be to any other private company. However, civil debts are not crime or taxation issues, so S29 does not apply, and Councils do not have the power to make this sort of disclosure anyway.
If there are possible criminal offences in connection with the use of the water supply (I can't thionk of any but you never know) then s29 could apply in individual cases.
Leif
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