Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support and guidance (a) has been and (b) will be provided by his Department to (i) new and (ii) established businesses on their obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) requires every data controller who is processing personal information to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) unless they are exempt. At the end of 2014/15 there were 409,000 data controllers registered with the ICO which generated a total income of £17,519,000.

The ICO is currently reviewing the coverage of the public register and plans to identify any sectors which are clearly under represented, with any such sectors being contacted by the ICO.

The ICO’s website sets out the criteria for notification and provides guidance on the level of fee organisations should be paying. The ICO have also made it easier for organisations to notify and pay the fee by introducing online payments.

The ICO’s website contains guidance for data controllers, including businesses, about their obligations under the DPA.