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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the number of businesses which need to arrange standard contractual clauses.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the UK will become a ‘third country’ under EU data protection law. Subsequently, personal data transfers from the EU/EEA to the UK will become restricted and require additional legal safeguards. Any organisation that receives personal data from the EU/EEA should review their contracts and, where absent, include appropriate legal safeguards to ensure they can continue to receive personal data from the EU/EEA. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are the most common legal safeguard and will be the relevant mitigation for most organisations

All businesses and organisations that receive personal data from the EU will need to take action, in conjunction with their EU/EEA partner. Receipt of personal data from the EU/EEA is not specific to any one sector or type of business - every organisation should review their data flows to determine whether they are affected

The implementation cost for SCCs will vary between different organisation depending on a range of factors, notably the number of existing contracts that require SCCs to be added. Many businesses will already have contracts including SCCs with non-EU/EEA countries. For most organisations - including SMEs - taking the required action should not be excessively costly and does not always require specialist advice. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has built a handy online tool to help businesses and organisations through every step of the process

DCMS, with Whitehall partners, is undertaking an intensive engagement and communication effort with businesses and organisations across the UK and in the EU to highlight the need for action. The Department has worked with the Information Commissioner's Office to ensure that all available guidance is simple, straightforward and actionable and that businesses can produce the required SCCs online. There has been an increase in awareness of the changes that need to be made to prepare businesses and organisations for the possibility of a no-deal exit and this campaign will continue as a Government priority.