§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many subject access requests under the terms of the Data Protection Act his Department has received; what was his estimate of this number; whether he is reconsidering the subject access fee charged by his Department as a result; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonDuring the period 11 November 1987 to 29 February 1988, my Department has received 114 requests for subject access under the terms of the Data Protection Act. It had been estimated that during this period, in the order of 400 requests might be received. This estimate has been calculated from an assumed annual access rate of 0.1 per cent. of the estimated populations covered by the 40 registrations made by my Department. I am not at present reconsidering the subject access fee charged by my Department.