vides guidance on who should be offered counselling and which body can provide counselling services. Disclosure of information for the purposes of counselling: AIR 18 11.64. The adoption agency may disclose section 56 information, including protected information, to any person or body with whom it has made an arrangement to provide counselling on its behalf. This will apply where the agency has made an arrangement with another adoption agency or ASA, to provide specialist support and advice on its behalf. For the adoption agency or ASA to provide counselling, support and advice, which is meaningful and beneficial to the recipient, it will require access to the section 56 information held by the adoption agency. 11.65. It is anticipated that the agency will normally give the person or agency providing the counselling and support unrestricted access to the section 56 information it holds. This would enable the person providing the counselling to consider fully the circumstances of each case before deciding the information that would be of most value in providing the counselling. 11.66. The agency may attach conditions or restrictions on the information that may be disclosed by the person or body providing the counselling. Sections 61 and 62 of the Act require the adoption agency to make the determination as to whether to disclose protected information to the applicant. However, in circumstances where the agency had already determined that the disclosure of protected information was appropriate, it may give the agency providing the counselling permission to disclose the information on its behalf in the course of counselling. The counselling agency may only disclose protected information on the adoption agency’s behalf with the express permission of that agency. 221 11.67. 