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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of resources available to the Information Commissioner's Office to support businesses in the implementation of changes to the General Data Protection Regulation.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports is committed to ensuring the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is adequately resourced to fulfil its current functions under the Data Protection Act 1998 and its new responsibilities under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which includes guidance and support to businesses. The Government has recently introduced new charging provisions in the Digital Economy Act 2017 to ensure the ICO it is adequately resourced both during the transitional period and once the GDPR comes into effect in May 2018. The ICO has issued guidance for businesses on how to prepare for the GDPR. This is available at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-reform/guidance-what-to-expect-and-when/.