reg 10 Refusal on national security grounds
(1) A request made by a network provider under regulations 4 to 9 must be refused if, or to the extent, complying with the request would be prejudicial to national security. (2) If an infrastructure operator or rights holder considers that a request made to it may be one that it is required to refuse on national security grounds (to any extent), it must not make a decision until it has received the opinion of the appropriate Minister of the Crown. (3) The appropriate Minister of the Crown is the Minister who exercises those functions of a public nature most relevant to whether, or to what extent, the request must be refused on national security grounds. (4) For the purposes of paragraph (2), the infrastructure operator or rights holder must consult the person it considers the appropriate Minister as soon as reasonably practicable after receipt of the request. (5) The appropriate Minister must provide an opinion. (6) The opinion may include such information as the Minister considers appropriate except that— (a) it must, as a minimum, include a statement as to the extent to which (if at all) the request should be refused on national security grounds; and (b) it must not include information the disclosure of which might prejudice national security. (7) In deciding whether to refuse a request (or any part of it) on national security grounds, the infrastructure operator or rights holder must follow the Minister's opinion. (8) If a request is to be refused (to any extent) on national security grounds— (a) the infrastructure operator or rights holder must consult the appropriate Minister as to what information (if any) may be given to the requester to explain why the request has been refused; (b) the Minister must provide an opinion; and (c) the infrastructure operator or rights holder must follow the Minister's opinion. (9) Where the appropriate Minister is required under this regulation to give an opinion, the Minister must do so within a timescale that has regard to the applicable time limit under regulation 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 for the infrastructure operator or rights holder to respond to the request.