Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service on the time taken to process Subject Access Requests.

Compliance with data protection obligations, including the handling of Subject Access Requests (SARs), is the responsibility of individual police forces. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) produces guidance for organisations on how to comply with data protection law.

The Data (Use and Access) Act received Royal Assent in June 2025 and includes some changes to data protection obligations while maintaining high standards of protection for personal data. As part of the development of that legislation, Home Office officials engaged with policing stakeholders in the usual way.