governance framework. This will include effective governance mechanisms for the ICO's freedom of information responsibilities. Setting the Information Commissioner's salary 361. The current legislation requires Parliamentary approval to amend the Information Commissioner’s salary. Given the government’s planned changes to the ICO’s governance model, the provision for Parliament to set the chair’s salary would become an outlier compared to other regulators. 362. The government proposes to remove the requirement for Parliamentary approval and allow the Secretary of State for DCMS to amend the Information Commissioner's salary with approval from HM Treasury. Safeguards exist within this process and salaries over £150,000 are governed by HM Treasury’s Guidance for approval of senior pay, which sets out that sponsor departments must have regard to ensuring value for money and ensuring they can recruit, retain and motivate the best people. The government welcomes views on the following questions: Q5.3.5. To what extent do you agree that the salary for the Information Commissioner (i.e. the proposed chair of the ICO in the future governance model) should not require Parliamentary approval? ○ Strongly agree ○ Somewhat agree ○ Neither agree nor disagree ○ Somewhat disagree ○ Strongly disagree Please explain your answer, and provide supporting evidence where possible. 5.4 Accountability and Transparency 363. The changes to the ICO’s statutory framework for objectives and duties, coupled with stronger governance mechanisms, as set out above, will improve the diversity, challenge and scrutiny of the ICO’s approach within the organisation itself. Furthermore the government intends to strengthen accountability and transparency mechanisms in order to aid external scrutiny of the ICO's performance. 364. The proposed accountability and transparency changes relate to the ICO’s entire remit. The government has taken into account the ICO's independence and regulatory oversight of the public sector when considering these changes in order to uphold the ICO's independence while ensuring it can be effectively held accountable for its activities. New reporting requirements 365. The ICO is currently required to produce, lay before Parliament and publish a general report, including its annual report. 97 However, as highlighted earlier in this chapter, there is a lack of clarity around the ICO’s strategic priorities in the current legislative framework, meaning there are no clear objectives for the ICO to measure its performance against and report on.
97
Data Protection Act 2018, Section 139
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