Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Information Commissioner's Office has to take regulatory action against banks and other financial lenders, who fail to meet their obligations relating to Subject Access Requests, submitted to them by law firms acting on behalf of clients bringing actions under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Information Commissioner is the UK’s independent regulator of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Under the data protection legislation, people have the right to access and receive a copy of their personal data from organisations. This is commonly referred to as a subject access request. Individuals have a right to appoint a third party to act on their behalf, if they wish.
A subject access request must be responded to without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receiving the request. An extension of a further two months can be given if the request is complex, or if the individual has submitted a number of requests, for example, other types of requests relating to individuals’ rights.
The DPA provides a number of exemptions from the requirement to comply with a subject access request. For example, organisations can withhold information if that information could identify someone else, and it would not be reasonable to disclose that information to the individual; or if the information relates to legal proceedings and is subject to legal professional privilege. An organisation can also refuse to comply with a subject access request if the request is ‘manifestly unfounded’ or ‘manifestly excessive’.
People have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if an organisation fails to comply with a subject access request. The ICO can be contacted by telephone on 0303 123 1113 or through its website: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/. The ICO may take action against the organisation in appropriate cases, for example, by issuing the organisation with a warning, reprimand or enforcement notice. The ICO can issue a civil monetary penalty in the most serious cases.
The ICO exercises its enforcement powers in accordance with its Regulatory Action Policy, which can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/media/1853/data-protection-regulatory-action-policy.pdf. The ICO monitors patterns in complaints, and is not aware of any particular pattern of non-compliance by banks or other financial lenders with regards to subject access requests.
A requester may also apply for a court order in the event of non-compliance with a subject access request, requiring the organisation to comply or to seek compensation. It is a matter for the court to decide, in each particular case, what action to take.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what further steps he will take to ensure that banks and other financial lenders are meeting their obligations when responding to Subject Access Requests, submitted to them by law firms acting on behalf of clients bringing actions under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Information Commissioner is the UK’s independent regulator of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Under the data protection legislation, people have the right to access and receive a copy of their personal data from organisations. This is commonly referred to as a subject access request. Individuals have a right to appoint a third party to act on their behalf, if they wish.
A subject access request must be responded to without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receiving the request. An extension of a further two months can be given if the request is complex, or if the individual has submitted a number of requests, for example, other types of requests relating to individuals’ rights.
The DPA provides a number of exemptions from the requirement to comply with a subject access request. For example, organisations can withhold information if that information could identify someone else, and it would not be reasonable to disclose that information to the individual; or if the information relates to legal proceedings and is subject to legal professional privilege. An organisation can also refuse to comply with a subject access request if the request is ‘manifestly unfounded’ or ‘manifestly excessive’.
People have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if an organisation fails to comply with a subject access request. The ICO can be contacted by telephone on 0303 123 1113 or through its website: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/. The ICO may take action against the organisation in appropriate cases, for example, by issuing the organisation with a warning, reprimand or enforcement notice. The ICO can issue a civil monetary penalty in the most serious cases.
The ICO exercises its enforcement powers in accordance with its Regulatory Action Policy, which can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/media/1853/data-protection-regulatory-action-policy.pdf. The ICO monitors patterns in complaints, and is not aware of any particular pattern of non-compliance by banks or other financial lenders with regards to subject access requests.
A requester may also apply for a court order in the event of non-compliance with a subject access request, requiring the organisation to comply or to seek compensation. It is a matter for the court to decide, in each particular case, what action to take.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions on (a) the guidance for children's soft play centres to safely reopen in a covid-secure way, and (b) the limitations on maximum occupancy at soft play centres due to needing a minimum of 100 sq ft per person.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Officials in DCMS have been working closely with the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA) and public health officials on the guidance for children’s indoor play centres, including soft play. Government officials supported BALPPA to develop COVID-secure guidance to enable the sector to safely reopen on 15 August. As part of this guidance, a series of robust measures have been put in place - including a regular enhanced cleaning schedule, removal of ‘clutter’ and systems to enable test and trace.
The guidance currently states that there is a maximum capacity of 40% for soft play frames based on the total number of users, including parents or guardian supervising. This measure was recommended by public health officials to ensure that venues are COVID-secure, which is necessary to help avoid the transmission of COVID-19.
The reference to 100sqft has since been removed from the guidance following conversations with BALPPA and other industry leaders.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the recent easing of covid-19 lockdown restrictions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of permitting metal detecting hobbyists to return to their recreation.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
This government recognises that finds made by the public, including those found by metal-detectorists, make an immense contribution to our knowledge of the archaeology and history of Britain.
The recent easing of lockdown restrictions means that since 13th May, people have been, and are, able to enjoy metal-detecting, as long as they adhere to social distancing measures. At the moment, in England, this means that groups of up to six individuals from different households are able to meet outside to metal detect as long as they maintain 2 meters between them.
To support the hobby, the department has published guidance on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guidance-on-searching-for-archaeological-finds-in-england-during-covid-19.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 154 of the Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the review of the telecoms market.
Answered by Margot James
The Government published its Future Telecoms Infrastructure Strategy on 23 July 2018. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-telecoms-infrastructure-review