§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he is making towards implementing the Data Protection Act 1998. [91227]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe work on the essential subordinate legislation is well advanced, but it will not be completed before the summer recess. We intend to lay the instruments before Parliament in the autumn. To allow business and others adequate time to prepare, we intend to bring the 1998 Act into force on 1 March 2000. Meanwhile, drafts of three further statutory instruments will be published on the Internet at www.homeoffice.gov.uk on 13 July 1999. I am also placing copies in the Library.