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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what support and assistance they are providing to parish and town councils and parish meetings to help them get ready for, and mitigate the financial impact on taxpayers of, the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018; whether they have undertaken an impact assessment on the application of the Data Protection Bill and GDPR on parish and town councils and parish meetings; if so, whether that assessment has been published; and what discussions they have held with the National Association of Local Councils concerning the impact of the Data Protection Bill and GDPR on parish and town councils.

The Government and the Information Commissioner recognise the challenges facing organisations across the UK in their preparations for the Data Protection Bill and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). There are already resources on the Commissioner's website (ico.org.uk) to help organisations employing fewer than 250 people, including parish councils, prepare. The Commissioner has launched a dedicated helpline service for smaller organisations and has updated its 'SME toolkit' to reflect the requirements of the GDPR. The Commissioner will also be simplifying her "12-step" GDPR preparation guidance in response to feedback from small and micro-enterprises and will continue to develop further guidance on both the Bill and GDPR. Parish Councils, like other data controllers, are currently required to adhere to the Data Protection Act 1998. Although the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) does change the requirements on data controllers, the Government's view is that the step up to these new standards will not be a disproportionate burden. Officials have held discussions with the National Association of Local Councils.