Mr. Forman askedthe Secretary of State for the Home Department if he intends to bring forward proposals for data protection legislation in time to allow the United Kingdom to sign the Council of Europe convention on the subject.
§ Mr. RaisonI refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Lord Privy Seal to questions by my hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Smith) on 9 December.
The convention is to be opened for signature at the end of January 1981, but there is no time limit by which States are required to decide whether or not to sign and ratify it.