Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance the Government provides to local authorities on the use of (a) third party companies and (b) adtech on their websites.

The Government Communication Service in the Cabinet Office provides general best-practice guidance on its website on compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Privacy Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) when developing a government campaign website, including on the use of third party cookies, which is available at: https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/campaigns/websites-government-campaigns/.

At the same time, the Government Digital Service, also in the Cabinet Office, maintains the Government Design Principles for the development of user-friendly digital services which advises, among other things, on the use of data and analytics, and which is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-design-principles. These are principally intended for central government but are publicly available for wider use in the public sector, including by local authorities.