Draft Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018

Kevan Jones Excerpts

Monday 26th March 2018 General Committees

[Mr Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Bone.

The Minister referred to the exemption for Members of Parliament, including the House of Lords. This is really about saving taxpayers’ money. At present, I understand, we would be classed in the micro group, and the £35 a year that we will have to pay we would then reclaim from IPSA under the office costs allowance. If we do not pay by direct debit the cost will be £40—the £35 is paid if by direct debit. On top of that, there will clearly be the cost of IPSA’s processing. I do not need to tell colleagues the level to which that goes and the costs that it incurs.

The Minister says she will consult on this, but would it not be a good use of taxpayers’ money to either exempt us, or to have some system whereby IPSA could pay the £35 directly to the Information Commissioner? That would cut out a lot of the unnecessary administration that IPSA is famous for and would avoid, for example, a new Member who is perhaps not used to administration failing to do it for some reason.

I take on board that the Minister says she will consult, but I would try to get this done sooner rather than later. As outlined, it will cost the taxpayer twice, and it is after all taxpayers’ money that funds IPSA and our expenses. The fact that the Government are basically paying money back to themselves, obviously with the slice off the top for the costs of the administration of IPSA, is quite an inefficient way of administering this.

More broadly, I understand and accept what the Minister says about the need for finance for this area—the Information Commissioner faces a growing area—but what scrutiny and justification has the Information Commissioner given to the Government for this increase? A lot of small and medium-sized businesses will see this as an additional payment that they will have to make. If we are to ensure the robustness of the arguments, we need to ensure that the Information Commissioner is diligent and operating efficiently and that individuals can be assured that taxpayers’ money, whether raised this way or in other ways, is properly accounted for and justifiably used.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Kevan Jones]

It might have been a good idea to have consulted Members of Parliament, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill said. I am not calling for an exemption. The way it has been constructed is a waste of taxpayers’ money, because in addition to the cost of IPSA administering it, if people do not pay by direct debit, there is an extra £5 that can be claimed. That will add to the costs, which is silly.

[Margot James]

I shall take the hon. Gentleman’s views back. At the moment, there is a proposal to consult. If hon. Members feel we should just pay it through IPSA, that is a perfectly valid view.

The hon. Gentleman also asked about the Information Commissioner’s accountability for the budget. The majority of micro-payers—very small businesses and organisations—are exempt for various reasons, chief among them that they do not process very much personal data in their day-to-day duties. In my Department, we keep the ICO budget under review on an annual basis, to ensure that the budget is adequate for the Information Commissioner’s requirements, but not overly generous.

I think the Committee is more worried about whether the ICO will have sufficient resources. That was the concern expressed by my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor and the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill.

[Mr Jones]

I have no doubt that the Minister’s Department keeps the budget under review to see whether the Information Commissioner has enough resources, but what about how the money is spent in practice? As with many such quangos, the question is who is ensuring that the money is spent properly.

[Margot James]

The Information Commissioner’s Office has a financial controller, a board, and a chief executive. It is held to account not just by my officials, but by the Secretary of State and me. I meet with the Information Commissioner regularly, and we assess through various means whether adequate financial controls are in place. To date, the ICO has proved that they are. Obviously, a significant uplift of at least a third in revenue, and all the additional headcount that that implies, will be a moment of transition, where the sort of problems that we have seen in other organisations may emerge. We will keep a very close eye on that, to ensure that they do not.

My hon. Friend the Member for Windsor was concerned that there were not enough resources, and that £30 million was too low. We will keep that figure under review. Certainly, the events of the past few weeks have shone a torch on just how much could be demanded of the ICO. As well as increasing the budget, and enabling the Information Commissioner to increase the number of staff that she has at her disposal, we have increased her powers. The right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill said that in Committee I walked back from the commitments that the Secretary of State gave to reviewing the powers that we have given the Information Commissioner in the Bill. We have strengthened her powers, and we have discussed with her her desire for greater powers. We debated that in Committee, and I confirmed that we would review her powers before Report. The Secretary of State and I are honouring that commitment.