Member

The other amendments in this group are designed to remove the involvement of the Secretary of State and transfer the responsibility to appoint the commissioner from the Government to Parliament. Amendment 167A would ensure that non-executive members of the commission have a sufficient balance of expertise to inform the commission outside purely data protection issues. There is concern that the ICO will simply draw its NEDs from the same narrow profile of data protection lawyers as has previously been the case. We know from the European Union that it is important that regulators understand the broader horizon and appropriately balance GDPR enforcement with other fundamental rights, such as civil liberties and the economic impact that rulings can have. Will the Minister agree that the ICO should be looking for a broad range of expertise that can aid its decision-making in the reformed structure? I beg to move.