Freedom of Information
xxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx
Team
www.gov.uk
Correspondence Unit
9 Downing Street
SW1A 2AG
Anthony Eeles
Via: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Our ref: DEX001343
20 August 2018
Dear Anthony Eeles,
I am writing further to my email of 12 July 2018, about your request DEX001343. Your
request has been handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 (the “Act”). I refer to your request, where you asked:
Given that the EU have confirmed that in the absence of another agreement,
Britain will become a Third Country with respect to data transfers under
GDPR, please provide copies of :
- information and analysis regarding any attempts to negotiate either
- a bi-lateral data sharing position between the EU and UK and progress
- or an early ""adequacy decision"" given that the UK has adopted GDPR
into its laws via the data protection act 2018
- information and analysis regarding progress with any such negotiations
- analysis of the most likely post-withdrawal data sharing framework
- any analysis conducted regarding the impact on UK business in the event
Britain remains a ""third country"" following our exit from the EU on
29/03/2019
I can confirm that the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) holds information
in the scope of your request. Some of the information relevant to your request is readily
available in the public domain and is exempt under section 21(1) of the Act. I have provided
further links below;
The Data Protection Act; http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/12/contents/enacted
Technical note on Data Protection;
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-note-on-data-protection
Framework for the UK-EU Partnerhship Data Protection;
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/framework-for-the-uk-eu-partnership-data-prote
ction
The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union;
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-future-relationship-between-the-united-kingd
om-and-the-european-union
The exchange and protection of personal data - a future partnership paper;
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-exchange-and-protection-of-perso
nal-data-a-future-partnership-paper
With regards to information that is not yet publicly available, after careful consideration we
have decided that this information is exempt from disclosure under section 35(1)(a) of Act.
This exempts information held by a government department if it relates to (1)(a) the
formulation or development of government policy.
Section 35 is a qualified exemption and I have considered whether the public interest in
exempting the information in scope outweighs the public interest in releasing the information.
DExEU recognises that there is a general public interest in disclosure of information and we
recognise that openness in government may increase public trust in and engagement with
the government. We also recognise that policy formulation and/or development is in the
public interest as policy can have significant impact on the lives of citizens and there is
therefore public interest in the transparency of any deliberations, particularly while the UK
negotiates its withdrawal from the EU.
Against this, there is a strong public interest in policy making associated with our exit from
the EU being of the highest quality and being fully informed by a consideration of all options.
It is important that policy officials can exchange views on available options and openly
discuss and understand potential implications, especially on live issues. In releasing
information in scope, we may undermine the effective formulation or development of policies
which may play a key part in our negotiation strategy regarding our exit from the EU, or
create unintended consequences which could potentially jeopardise policy formulation or
development in the future. I have therefore determined that in all circumstances of the case,
public interest favours withholding the information we hold within the scope of your request
over releasing.
It may also be of note, as the Prime Minister and Secretary of State set out in Parliament on
18th July, the Government will be publishing a set of technical notices to help businesses
and citizens prepare for March 2019 in the event of a ‘no deal’ scenario.
These will be published throughout August and September and will be available on
GOV.UK in a centralised location that is easy for people to access and use.
In addition, the Government will shortly be publishing a response to the Exiting the
European Union Select Committee report -
The progress of the UK’s negotiations on EU
withdrawal: Data;
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmexeu/1317/1317.pdf
This will be available on the parliament website.
If you are dissatisfied with this response you may request an independent internal review of
our handling of your request by submitting a complaint within two months to
xxx@xxxxx.xxx.xx , quoting reference [DEX001307 ]. If you ask for an internal review, it
would be helpful if you could say why you are dissatisfied with the response.
As part of any internal review the Department’s handling of your information request would
be reassessed by staff who were not involved in providing you with this response. If you
were to remain dissatisfied after an internal review, you would have a right of complaint to
the Information Commissioner as established by section 50 of the FOIA.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Team, DExEU.
