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Written question asked by Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 5 January 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 7 January 2026. It was answered by Ian Murray (Labour) on Tuesday, 13 January 2026 on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.


Subject Access Requests

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the ICO's statutory duty to enforce SAR disclosures are met within a one month timeframe.

Answer

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) provide individuals with the right to access their personal data, subject to relevant exemptions. A subject access request must be responded to within one month of receiving the request. The response time may be extended by a further two months if the request is complex, or if the individual has submitted a number of requests, provided the organisation informs the requestor within the one-month period and provides reasons for the delay.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for monitoring and enforcing the data protection legislation independently of government, and is accountable to Parliament.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
103137
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Disclosure of information Enforcement Information Commissioner's Office Subject access requests
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk