Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the impact the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) will have on care leavers’ full access to their care records.

The Government is currently assessing the full impact that the General Data Protection Regulation will have on individual areas of data processing. Certain provisions of the Regulation will have direct effect in UK law, including a continuing right of access for data subjects to their personal data and other information. In certain areas, the regulation leaves the option for domestic legislation to restrict rights that arise under it in certain circumstances (article 23).

The Regulation will apply from 25 May 2018. Before then, the Department for Education will assess whether the current statutory guidance covering care leavers’ access to their case records needs to be revised.