We are concerned by the lack of consultation undertaken ahead of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) new charging model being laid before Parliament.
Consultation:
We are concerned by the lack of consultation undertaken ahead of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) new charging model being laid before Parliament. Whilst approximately 40,000 data controllers were written to, inviting them to respond to the consultation (around 2,000 responded), not all affected parties (including the LGA) were offered the opportunity to contribute. The consultation and the responses to it are not publicly available, something which differs from most government consultations.
The increased costs: We are concerned by what appears to be an arbitrary increase in the charges councils will have to pay to the ICO as data controllers (elected representatives will also be subject to a small increase in their charge). This comes at a time when local government is under significant financial pressure and councils are receiving no additional government funding to help implement GDPR.
Exemptions for elected representatives: The Government are considering an exemption for elected representatives, subject to a full review of exemptions. It is important that councillors are exempted from paying a charge to the ICO as they should not incur a cost associated with their duties representing their constituents.
ICO fees – post script
The DCMS opened a public consultation during July 2018 with a closing date of 1 August 2018. It is positive that the Government has proposed an exemption in fees as part of this consultation. We have prepared a response that we plan to submit following any further additions or amendments that our members might care to make. We encourage councils to make individual responses if you wish and it would be helpful to let us know by sharing a copy with us at our email contact point: [email protected].
Download the full briefing
The Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018, House of Lords, 20 March 2018