Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of increased information sharing between agencies responsible for road safety, including the police ,the Health and Safety Executive, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, Highways England and the Traffic Commissioners, as well as private sector bodies such as the Motor Insurers’ Bureau; whether any such collaboration is inhibited by the Data Protection Act 2018 and other data protection concerns; and, if so, how they are mitigating these data protection concerns.

Data Protection legislation already allows for proportionate sharing of personal data for law enforcement purposes. The legislation also provides mechanisms to do this.

In the Refreshed Road Safety Statement in July 2019 we announced the most comprehensive review of roads policing and this reflects our commitment to continuing to reduce the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on our roads. The exchange of data pertinent to road safety between agencies and organisations is being explored as part of the review.

We will also shortly be launching a Call for Evidence to help us further investigate the link between enforcement, collisions, congestion and crime. Respondents will have the opportunity to outline their views on what could be done to better enable and equip those charged with enforcing traffic laws.