I share the concerns of Leicestershire Police Federation about the first and third data protection principles contained within the Data Protection Act 2018, which are imposing unnecessary and burdensome redaction obligations on police officers. It is vital that we do what we can to ease these administrative burdens so that we can free up thousands of policing hours and get police back on the frontline to support communities and tackle crime.
I have raised this issue numerous times with the Government, pressing for reform to the Data Protection Act 2018 to allow the police service and the Crown Prosecution Service to share unredacted data with one another when making a charging decision, having:
- Spoken during the Second Reading of the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill
- Met with the Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure
- Spoken with the Home Secretary
- Written to the Prime Minister, Attorney General, Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, and Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure
- Worked with the Police Federation of England & Wales to table an amendment to the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill
- Sat on the Committee for the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill
- Spoken about the amendment during Committee Stage of the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill and agreed to give Ministers time to bring in the necessary reforms themselves, whilst reserving the right to re-table my amendment at a later stage if the reforms are not forthcoming
- Received a letter from the Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire confirming that this is actively being looked into
- Met with the Information Commissioner's Office
- Asked the Leader of the House an oral question on when the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill is likely to return for Report Stage
- Re-tabled the amendment to the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill ahead of Report Stage
- Met with the Minister for Media and Data
- Spoken during the Remaining Stages of the Data Protection and Digital Information (No. 2) Bill
- Co-ordinated a letter from a number of MPs to the Minister for Data and Digital Infrastructure calling for an urgent solution to be found
- Asked the Minister for Policing an oral question about reducing administrative burdens on police officers
- Spoken in the Spring Budget debate about the need to change the law in regards to redaction to further boost police productivity.
Going forward, I am working to drum up support for reform amongst MPs whilst awaiting news from the Government about next steps.
