Setting a new direction for the Information Commissioner's Office

In September 2021, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published Data: A new direction, a 146-page consultation on various aspects of data protection reform. The consultation closes on 19 November 2021.

DCMS has asked civil society organisations and others to co-ordinate a series of events to inform the consultation. As part of this process, the Institute for Government was involved in organising two roundtable discussions in October 2021.

This short summary focuses on one of these events – a discussion about the future of the Information Commissioner’s Office. The event brought together participants from government and the public sector, academia and different civil society organisations. It was held under the Chatham House rule: this note of the discussion is therefore non-attributable. It represents what was said at the discussion, and does not necessarily represent the view of the Institute for Government.

The other event, with the Open Data Institute, focused on data sharing in the delivery of public services. The ODI has published a summary of that event.

The summary is being published to support the consultation process.