§ Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library copies of each version of the internal guidance which have been drawn up by his Department since 1 January 1999 to assist staff in his Department to answer subject access requests under the Data Protection Act 1998. [53360]
§ Mr. MacShaneSince 1 January 1999, two versions of internal guidance have been drawn up by the FCO. A booklet, "A Guide to The Data Protection Act 1998" was issued in June 2000. This has been superseded by guidance made available to staff in December 2001. Section 3 of this guidance deals with answers to subject access requests. I have arranged for a copy of both the booklet and Section 3 of the guidance to be placed in the House Library. A revised version of the guidance will be prepared for inclusion in the FCO's Publication Scheme, which is required by the Freedom of Information Act to be in place in November 2002.