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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the requirements for (1) elected councillors, (2) police and crime commissioners, and (3) elected mayors to register under the General Data Protection Regulations.

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, those defined as data controllers, which may include elected councillors, police and crime commissioners and elected mayors, are no longer required to notify and register with Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Data controllers are however required to pay an annual charge to the ICO and provide the information necessary to determine that charge unless a relevant exemption applies. The Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018, which came into force on the 25th May 2018, introduced a new data protection charge, replacing the previous notification fee, which was associated with the previous legal requirement on data controllers to register with the ICO.

Currently, data controllers do not have to pay the annual data protection charge if they process personal data without an automated system, such as a computer, or if they only process personal data for one (or more) of the following purposes: staff administration; advertising, marketing and public relations; accounts and records; not-for-profit purposes; personal, family or household affairs; maintaining a public register; and judicial functions. Charities and small occupational pension schemes are also automatically subject to the lowest tier of charge.

On 17th December 2018 an amendment to the Regulations was laid in Parliament to introduce a new exemption for the payment of the annual data protection charge for (i) members of the House of Lords; and (ii) elected representatives, as defined in paragraph 23(3) of Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 2018 (“the DPA 2018”) in connection with the discharge of their respective functions; and (iii) relevant processing undertaken by candidates (prospective and validly nominated) seeking to become elected representatives. This new exemption would apply specifically to elected councillors, police and crime commissioners and elected mayors.

Subject to Parliamentary processes (and a vote in each House), the exemption will come into force from 1 April 2019.