§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many subject access requests have been received by the Metropolitan Police for each of the last three years; and what plans he has to use his powers under the Data Protection Act 1998 to restrict, at the request of the data subject, a subject access request to personal data which relate to criminal records. [89654]
§ Kate HoeyThe Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police tells me that the number of subject access requests received by the Metropolitan Police for each of the last three years has been:
- 1998: 24,984
- 1997: 18,705
- 1996: 13,896.
The Data Protection Act 1998 makes provision for a new offence to deal with enforced subject access to certain types of record, including criminal records. Because of the close link with the introduction of criminal record checks, provided under Part V of the Police Act 1997, the new offence will not be brought into force before such checks can be undertaken. The Criminal Records Bureau is being established to enable these checks to be carried out.
Work on the implementation and timing of Part V of the Police Act 1997 is being taken forward.